In the past, Meta has employed AI facial scanning tools to confirm Instagram users’ ages. The company has now declared that it is testing the technology on Facebook Dating in order to make the product safer.
Recently, Meta stated in a blog post that it will begin requesting Facebook Dating users to verify their age if the platform suspected a user is underage. Users may upload a video selfie by following a few simple guidelines. Meta then shares a still picture from the video with Yoti, a third-party age-verification company, which calculates an age estimate based on facial features. The image is removed when Meta receives the result.
You could also upload an ID that shows your age, like a driving license. While your age is being confirmed, the ID is encrypted and saved. The ID is never made public on your Facebook page, and Meta then allows users to choose how long it should be kept. According to Meta, the verification procedure takes a few days, but its own help documentation reveals that it can store IDs for up to 1 year.
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Following the company’s Cambridge Analytica data privacy breach, Facebook Dating debuted in 2019, however, it had fallen behind rivals in the dating industry. Meta has been experimenting with various artificial intelligence-based age identification systems as governments put more pressure on online companies to provide minimal protections to protect minors. Although Meta hasn’t completely described the markers it searches for to determine a person’s age, it has previously stated that it analyzes things like a user’s birthday postings since friends frequently respond with the user’s genuine age in their comments. With this most recent action, Meta is ahead of legislative frameworks that are increasingly centered on the online safety of kids and teenagers, with federal legislation underway both nationally and internationally.
According to Meta, testing since June has shown that the service was able to deter 96% of teenagers who attempted to modify their birthdays from doing so. The company said that the new age verification technologies will aid in preventing youngsters from using adult-only services. The age verification test will be implemented across all other Meta products that demand users to be at least 18 years old as well as in other nations where Facebook Dating is active.
For adults using Facebook Dating, Meta did not list any requirements (such as ensuring a 45-year-old is not pretending to be 18). The Verge claims that the technology is not equally accurate for all users: Yoti’s data reveals that the algorithm’s accuracy is worse for “feminine” faces and individuals with darker skin tones.
