Google Opposes Age Verification for App Stores Amid EU Regulation Discussions
Tech giant Google rejects a proposed age verification initiative, raising concerns about implications for child safety and developer responsibilities.
On June 13, Google, the American technology giant, publicly opposed a proposal advocated by its rival Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to implement age verification for users across app stores, including Google Play and Apple’s App Store.
Google’s blog post articulated concerns that enforcing such measures would necessitate sharing detailed age data with millions of developers who do not require it, potentially compromising user privacy.
The company emphasized its apprehensions regarding the risks this age verification approach poses to children.
Apple also holds a similar stance, having released an analysis in February critiquing the necessity of age verification, asserting that only a minor fraction of applications require it and suggesting that age checks should apply directly to the specific websites and applications rather than app stores.
Google further argued that this measure could allow app developers to avoid their responsibilities and claimed it would be ineffective, particularly in households where devices are commonly shared among family members.
This statement from Google comes in response to a public campaign launched by Meta in May, which called for European regulation mandating age verification and parental consent to better protect minors on app platforms.
According to Meta, teenagers reportedly use an average of 44 applications each week, and age verification at the app store level would assist parents, allowing them to confirm their child’s age once rather than for each individual application.
The European Digital Services Act (DSA), which came into force last year, indicates that the responsibility for verifying user age lies with the applications or the sites themselves.
In contrast, some content providers, such as the pornographic site Aylo, support device-level and operating system-wide age verification.
Google countered this by stating that such an approach could alter existing protocols of the decentralized web, leading to consequences that are difficult to predict.
Last week, several EU countries, including France, Spain, and Greece, urged Brussels for enhanced regulation concerning the use of online platforms by children amidst rising concerns over issues like addiction, cyberbullying, and hate speech.
President Emmanuel Macron of France pledged on Tuesday to prohibit social media access for those under 15 in France if broader European measures do not materialize within a few months.
Google’s blog post articulated concerns that enforcing such measures would necessitate sharing detailed age data with millions of developers who do not require it, potentially compromising user privacy.
The company emphasized its apprehensions regarding the risks this age verification approach poses to children.
Apple also holds a similar stance, having released an analysis in February critiquing the necessity of age verification, asserting that only a minor fraction of applications require it and suggesting that age checks should apply directly to the specific websites and applications rather than app stores.
Google further argued that this measure could allow app developers to avoid their responsibilities and claimed it would be ineffective, particularly in households where devices are commonly shared among family members.
This statement from Google comes in response to a public campaign launched by Meta in May, which called for European regulation mandating age verification and parental consent to better protect minors on app platforms.
According to Meta, teenagers reportedly use an average of 44 applications each week, and age verification at the app store level would assist parents, allowing them to confirm their child’s age once rather than for each individual application.
The European Digital Services Act (DSA), which came into force last year, indicates that the responsibility for verifying user age lies with the applications or the sites themselves.
In contrast, some content providers, such as the pornographic site Aylo, support device-level and operating system-wide age verification.
Google countered this by stating that such an approach could alter existing protocols of the decentralized web, leading to consequences that are difficult to predict.
Last week, several EU countries, including France, Spain, and Greece, urged Brussels for enhanced regulation concerning the use of online platforms by children amidst rising concerns over issues like addiction, cyberbullying, and hate speech.
President Emmanuel Macron of France pledged on Tuesday to prohibit social media access for those under 15 in France if broader European measures do not materialize within a few months.
