- YouTube has officially implemented age verification checks to US users.
- The service will use AI to determine your age
- If you detect that you are under 18, you will have to verify your age by presenting a credit card or an identification of the government
YouTube has officially launched its age verifications based on AI in the US, after the introduction of online age verification controls in the United Kingdom, whose objective is to protect young people from seeing content for adults. Since its generalized launch came into force, a series of reaction has been found and users are furious.
The main reason why users are concerned about the process of verification of the new YouTube era is due to the age estimate model itself, which the company announced that “it will use AI to interpret a variety of signals that help us determine if a user has overcome or under 18 years.” But how will it work?
The Youtube AI model will use ‘signals’ to detect if a user is or more than 18 years old, which includes the longevity of the account, the types of videos looking for a user and the categories of videos they have already seen.
If YouTube detects its lower age, it will restrict its account by disabling personalized advertising, activating digital well -being tools and limiting the repetitive views of some types of content, despite the age you have established in your account. If it is falsely estimated at being under 18, you will have to verify your age by presenting a credit card or an identification of the government.
YouTube has not declared how this AI model will receive data from those who try to verify their age, or how the data will be stored, which has caused fears of possible data leaks.
Generalized frustration
Although it is early in the new Youtube Age verifications, users are already taking measures to stop them. On Tuesday, a Change.org petition was published and has grown exponentially, reaching more than 90,000 signatures so far.
The petition says “It is not just age restriction, it is massive surveillance and data control”, but that is not the only reason why users are angry. A Reddit publication has caused a generalized conversation about the controls of the new YouTube era, obtaining 1.8K responses.
My God, is happening from R/YouTube
In addition to data control concerns, the question of whether YouTube is a host of the ‘real’ adult content is another conversation that furious users are having (see below). This was also raised when Spotify introduced its scanning controls of the face in the United Kingdom, another service that, despite not accommodating content with X classification, organizes podcasts that can be considered of a mature nature.
While YouTube is very much in it with the trend content for adults, this can affect videos such as movies and games, which are seen by users of all ages. With the verifications of the new era, some content in this category will not be available to see if you have not logged down, as a user has shared.
How do you feel about the verification checks of the new YouTube era? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
