As more and more risks are entering the world of social media, certain platforms have begun to introduce a new form of age verification: facial scans.
Junior San Thai said, “I have heard multiple friends mentioning Roblox applying that system to check their users’ ages.”
Various apps like YouTube, Spotify, and Roblox have implemented this, despite consistent low public support for providing either facial scans or government identification.
Advocates for this practice argue that these facial scans are a necessary precaution to protect minors from adult content and from other dangerous situations.
Sophomore Eshwar Devisetti said, “I think it is more beneficial to have facial scans so kids would not be able to access apps or websites that are for adults.”
These facial identity checkers do not support safety, though; rather, they have the potential to be a complete invasion of privacy that could even cause more harm to users.
Thai said, “I feel this is more dangerous when it comes to the use of facial scans, since most users of apps don’t fully read the terms and conditions under which the data will be used. Many people are also concerned about the possible violation of privacy, too, from facial scans, when a lot of applications were revealed to have leaked their data.”
Data breaches, fraud, and identity theft are growing into high–risk problems through these facial scans. This is the major issue that needs to be addressed, as faces cannot be changed as easily as passwords.
If we continue to support the use of such systems, many problems will undoubtedly arise and escalate rapidly.
Devisetti said, “I personally would not trust companies to delete facial data because they could use it against you.”
As if the facial scans aren’t enough, some platforms have also incorporated even more precise ways of verifying identities, going as far as requiring users to submit government-issued identification. Something extremely personal and sensitive shouldn’t be easily shared over the web.
We don’t deny that there should be some way to verify users’ age, especially on potentially unsafe apps, but we do not believe that facial scans are the best way to go.
Another issue this new implementation attempts to resolve is the issue of age fabrication. Many children and teens do not honestly report their age to pass the age restrictions that most social media platforms have.
The facial scans, they claim, will allow companies to accurately determine the age of users to confirm that they meet the age requirements.
However, we have seen that face-based age estimations are not as accurate as they hope when put into practice.
The facial scans estimate age using Artificial Intelligence (AI), analyzing facial features and patterns that might give away a person’s age. But in the end, face-based age checkers are bound to be full of errors. It is called an estimation for a reason; it will never be completely accurate.
Additionally, using these facial scans may be problematic for users who are identified incorrectly. Some people look younger than their age, while some look older.
Adults may be misidentified as adolescents and be unjustly denied access to certain apps, and vice versa.
Thai said, “The system is flawed in many ways, and people can easily cheat the system.”
While this verification is new for these apps, facial recognition has been around for longer than some think. Biometric scanning in airports can recognize one’s face in the span of seconds. The Apple iPhones include a choice to use Face ID to unlock one’s phone, rather than just by entering a password.
Thai stated, “For applications and platforms that have services and contents for high school students and older, I think using school IDs could be an alternative for age verification.”
Clearly, as AI has become an increasingly prevalent tool, facial recognition and verification have already been rooted in our society, but as it gains popularity, it is necessary to consider some of the dangers that are sure to come with these systems.