The new app will enable users to verify their age without disclosing personal information to online platforms, the Financial Times (FT) reported Friday (May 30), citing its interview with Henna Virkkunen, executive vice president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy at the European Commission.
The availability of the app could enable the EU to enforce laws protecting minors online, the report said. Virkkunen said she hopes tech companies will voluntarily adopt practices to protect minors so that laws are not required, per the report.
“The protection of minors is a very important priority for us, and we will take more action here,” Virkkunen said, according to the report.
The European Commission announced Tuesday (May 27) that it launched formal investigations into four major adult content websites over alleged violations of the Digital Services Act (DSA), citing inadequate age verification measures and other failures to adequately protect minors from accessing inappropriate material.
The DSA mandates that online platforms designated as “very large online platforms” (VLOPs) establish robust mechanisms to prevent minors from accessing explicit content.
“Our priority is to protect minors and allow them to navigate safely online,” Virkkunen said in a Tuesday press release announcing the investigations. “Together with the digital service coordinators in the member states we are determined to tackle any potential harm to young online users.”
In another identity-related project, the European Commission announced in November that it adopted technical standards for cross-border European Digital Identity (eID) Wallets in the EU, saying this will help member states build their own wallets and release them by the end of 2026.
The wallets will enable users to identify themselves online and offline; will be available to any EU citizen, resident or business in the EU; and will be optional.
In Friday’s FT report, Virkkunen also said the EU is working to ensure that online platforms set children’s accounts as private by default and that they avoid platform designs that could be addictive.
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