New ways to verify users' ages are being tested by the photo sharing website.
The trial began on June 23 and is only being rolled out in the US. Users trying to change their age on the app are the focus of the trial. Users can verify their age by uploading a photo of their ID, asking their friends to verify their age, or recording a video selfies.
A London-based identity-verification startup, Yoti, will get the videos if a user chooses the video selfies method. Yoti will look at the user's facial features to confirm their age.
The data will be deleted once they have verified the user's age. Yoti's algorithm only checks the user's age and not their identity, according to a report.
The process will allow it to offer age appropriate content.
Understanding someone's age online is not easy. The company wants to work with other industries and governments to set clear standards for age verification online.
The image will be deleted after 30 days if a user submits a photo of their ID to confirm their age.
Critics and parents accuse the company of exposing children to harmful content. People under the age of 13 can't create accounts on the photo sharing service. It asked existing users to give their birthdays. The launch of the children's version of the app was suspended in September.
Social media companies have been checking the faces of their users to make sure they don't have kids on their platforms. Yubo, a French social-networking site, said in May it was partnering with Yoti to identify users who are under the age of 18. In order to limit children's gaming time on its platform, China's Tencent studied users' faces when they log on.
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