Supporters said the system balanced safety and privacy, while critics warned enforcement would be difficult and could expand digital ID requirements.
France, Spain, Italy, Denmark, and Greece are set to test what the European Union Commission calls its “blueprint” for an age verification app for children across the 27-member state bloc.
The app’s prototype was announced on July 14 alongside guidelines that online platforms are recommended to adopt to comply with the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA).
Supporters say it is a privacy-conscious alternative to systems like China’s facial recognition scans.
Meanwhile, critics warn it could pave the way for mandatory digital ID checks across the internet, shifting power from parents to platforms.
European Digital Identity Wallets
The EU Commission said that the initiative aims to allow European users to prove they are old enough to legally access age-restricted sites, starting with being over 18 years of age for accessing adult-restricted online content, such as pornography, gambling, purchasing alcohol, and others.
The five countries can adapt the model according to their requirements, integrate it into a national app, or keep it separately.
The commission said that the tech is built on the same technical specifications as the European Digital Identity Wallets (eID) that are to be rolled out before the end of 2026.
The eIDs will be for every EU citizen so they can prove who they are when accessing digital services, for example, opening a new bank account.
Several countries are trialing or implementing age verification tech for online platforms.
The United Kingdom and Australia both do so via their own Online Safety Acts. Canberra has passed a law to prevent Australian children under the age of 16 from having social media accounts.
Governments from Singapore to Indonesia and China are increasingly introducing age-verification systems.
‘Designed Differently’
Derek Jackson, chief operations officer and co-founder of Cyber Dive, a tech company founded with the mission of keeping children safe online, told The Epoch Times by email that in China, age verification commonly relies on facial recognition.
“Here’s how [the Chinese system] works in practice: when someone logs into a social media app or a video game, their face is scanned by the app and then matched instantly against a central government database,” he said.
“Think of this like having your photo and ID stored at one giant central library. Every time you need to prove your age, the app quickly calls the government-owned library to check if your face matches,” he added.
“The advantage is clear: It’s fast, very accurate, and simple for the user. But the trade-off is significant: your face, your identity, and all your personal data are stored centrally by the government.
“You don’t directly control your personal information; it’s all managed by someone else, and that someone else is the government.”
He said the EU’s prototype, on the other hand, is “designed differently.”
“It’s more like carrying around your own personal wallet or keychain, rather than relying on a centralized library. The idea is based around what’s called a ‘digital wallet,’ which most people are familiar with in cryptocurrency transactions,” he added.
In terms of governments rather than private companies being responsible for verification, he said: “The more players you have creating their own rules, the more confusing, insecure, and exploitative the landscape becomes.”
Jackson said, “We need society-wide safeguards.”
“Parents alone shouldn’t bear responsibility for navigating digital dangers they can’t possibly control,” he added.
“If we’re serious about protecting children from adverse childhood experiences online, like exploitation, exposure to traumatic content, or manipulative designs that erode mental health, then safety must be redefined as a collective responsibility rather than an individual illusion.
“Parents must accept their limits, society must acknowledge its broader duty, and together, we must establish clear, enforceable rules and protections,” he said.
By Owen Evans
