EU Digital Identity Wallet: European Commission unveils age-verification app

The European Commission has unveiled a new app aimed at citizens.

Protecting children from cyberbullying, pornography, screen addiction and illegal content is the broad aim set out by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday 15 April.

To achieve this, she presented what she describes as a “harmonised European approach”: an age-verification app that is “technically ready” and will be “available to all citizens soon”. It is worth noting that Brussels' executive has been promising the launch of this solution, called the EU Digital Identity Wallet, for several years.

The Commission President added: “This app will allow users to prove their age when accessing online platforms, just as shops ask for identification when buying alcoholic drinks.”

The comparison is revealing. It is easy to overlook the fact that preventing children from accessing a website means every citizen, rather than minors alone, will now be required to disclose their identity.

EU Digital Identity Wallet age verification

Explaining how the tool will work, she said:

First, it is easy to use. You simply download the app and set it up using your passport or identity card. You can then prove your age to access online services. Second, it meets the world's highest privacy standards. Users prove their age without revealing any other personal information. In other words, it is completely anonymous: users cannot be tracked. Third, the app works on all devices: phones, tablets, computers and so on. Finally, its source code is fully open – anyone can inspect it.

Ursula von der Leyen pointed to France and several other Member States as examples, since they have already announced plans to incorporate the app into their national digital wallets. In France, a ban on social media for under-15s is taking shape, alongside the requirement to prove one's identity.

A project far from unanimous

As this shows, the European Commission is handling the project cautiously. That is because it is far from enjoying universal support. Last March, hundreds of academics signed an open letter calling on governments to halt the plan for mandatory age verification on social media.

They argue that there is no scientific consensus on either the benefits or harms of age-verification technologies, while security weaknesses may emerge on platforms, putting users' privacy at risk.

Quoted by Dig.watch, they added that “any credible system would require cryptographic safeguards for every request to protect data in transit, rather than leaving identity control to platforms without robust technical guarantees. (…) Such an infrastructure would be complex to build globally and would create constraints that many providers might refuse to adopt.”