Overview
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday the bloc’s age‑verification app is technically ready and will be available soon to let people prove their age online using a passport or national ID.
- The system returns only a yes‑or‑no answer on whether a user meets an age threshold and, officials say, uses zero‑knowledge proofs and open‑source code modeled on the EU’s COVID certificate.
- Platforms are not required to use the EU tool, but under the Digital Services Act they must show any alternative is just as effective or risk enforcement action, according to the Commission.
- Cyprus, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy and Spain plan to integrate the tool into national digital wallets this year, and political work on minimum social‑media ages continues with expert recommendations due by summer and a leaders’ call hosted by Emmanuel Macron on Thursday.
- Privacy and civil‑liberties groups warn the code is not production‑ready and could erode anonymity, and the Commission acknowledges the system can be bypassed with VPNs because it relies in part on IP‑based location checks.