![\"Teenage](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/dbfd19a4453a8ed703ee7050c0b6bc3e.jpeg\"\/)
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Teenage boys look at their smartphones in a village near Morzine, France. Europe has built a new app to help tech platforms verify users’ ages in hopes of protecting young people online. – Matt Cardy\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Europe doesn\u2019t want to hear any more excuses from tech platforms for why they can\u2019t verify users\u2019 ages.<\/p>\n
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday announced a new European age verification app that will give users a sort of digital ID card to prove their ages online \u2014 without sharing their sensitive personal information with every site or app they want to access.<\/p>\n
The move comes as tech platforms face growing global pressure to better protect young people online. But some tech leaders have raised practical and privacy concerns around collecting users\u2019 sensitive information to verify their ages.<\/p>\n
Europe\u2019s new app will provide a centralized solution that removes the burden for tech platforms to verify users\u2019 ages.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnline platforms can easily rely on our age verification app. So there are no more excuses,\u201d von der Leyen and EU Commission Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen said in a statement<\/a>. \u201cEurope offers a free and easy to use solution that can shield our children from harmful and illegal content.\u201d<\/p>\n Users will verify their age on Europe\u2019s new app by uploading a passport or ID card, according to the statement. Tech platforms can then access the app to verify whether a user is above or below a certain age \u2014 for example, 16 years old or 18 years old, depending on local requirements \u2014 but the user\u2019s birthdate and other personal information won\u2019t be shared.<\/p>\n Von der Leyen said the app will have the \u201chighest privacy standards in the world\u201d in a Wednesday post<\/a> on LinkedIn.<\/p>\n Concerns around the impact of tech platforms, especially social media sites, on young people\u2019s wellbeing have only escalated since a California jury found Meta and YouTube liable<\/a> for harming a young woman with addictive features last month. A New Mexico jury separately found Meta liable<\/a> for enabling child sexual abuse on its platforms.<\/p>\n Regulators around the world have pushed tech companies to create more safeguards for young users, or to restrict teens from accessing social media altogether.<\/p>\n Australia passed<\/a> a world-first law banning children under 16 from accessing social media in December, and a handful of other countries,<\/a> including in Europe, want to follow suit. In the United States, several states have passed legislation to force tech platforms to verify users\u2019 ages and obtain parental consent when minors create accounts.<\/p>\n