Enforcing Australia's social media ban on kids is possible but contains risks, report says
Though the move is popular with many parents, experts have raised concerns over data privacy and the accuracy of age verification technology.
Under the new laws, platforms must take "reasonable steps" to prevent Australian children from creating accounts on their sites, and deactivate existing ones.
The government says its ban, which comes into effect in December, is designed to limit the harmful impacts of social media. The policy has been touted as a world-first and is being watched closely by leaders globally.
Australia could use a range of technologies to implement its social media ban for under-16s but all have risks or shortcomings, a report has found.
The federal government commissioned the UK-based Age Check Certification Scheme to test the ways Australia could enforce the ban, and its final report was published on Sunday.
It looked at a variety of methods - including formal verification using government documents, parental approval, or technologies to determine age based on facial structure, gestures, or behaviours - and found all were technically possible.
"But we did not find a single ubiquitous solution that would suit all use cases, nor did we find solutions that were guaranteed to be effective in all deployments," it said.
Verification using identity documents was cited as the most accurate method, but the report identified concerns that platforms may keep this data longer than required and was anticipating sharing it with regulators, both of which would leave users' privacy at risk.
Australia - like much of the world - has in recent years seen a series of high-profile data breaches, including several where sensitive personal information was stolen and sold or published.
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