Last year, Instagram started rolling out its age verification tools. In an initial stage, it started as a test in the United States, and then it was extended to some countries.
And now in a new update, Instagram is bringing these verification tools to more countries in Europe, Canada, South Korea, Mexico, Australia, and Japan. And they plan to roll it out even further in the coming months.
This is how Instagram’s identity verification tools work
Let’s remember that this dynamic for age verification consists of giving the user different ways to prove that they have the age they register on the social network. For example, they can verify your age through official identification such as an identity card, passport, driver’s license, etc.
If the user chooses this option, Instagram will keep this data on its servers for 30 days and then delete it permanently. And if the user doesn’t want to use this method, they can opt for one of the other two options. For example, through a selfie video.
Through this video, a digital identity company associated with Instagram can verify the user’s age using AI. And just like official ID data, user-submitted content is removed when the verification process is complete.
On the other hand, if you do not want to use those tools in order not to provide any additional personal data to Instagram, the third option will be used: “Social Backup”. That is, you can ask three of your followers to confirm their age. Of course, these contacts must meet a series of requirements.
This process is a little slower, since you will have to wait for Instagram to send the request to your friends, and for them to confirm your age within three days. This does not mean that they have to write your exact age, but rather that they will have to choose between the options (different age ranges, I am not sure, etc) that Instagram will present to them.
