Australia could use a range of technologies to implement its social media ban for under-16s but all have risks or shortcomings, an ID/age verification company report has found. 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. Under the new laws, platforms must take reasonable steps to prevent Australian children from creating
accounts on their sites, and deactivate existing ones. It is notable that the law lays the onus on social media companies and that children parents and adults are free to try ways to work around the censorship. The federal government commissioned the
UK-based company, 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. In fact it also suggests that borderline users may be hassled by multiple methods leading up to the final requirement to handle over full ID verification data leading to a high risk of identity
theft. Verification using identity documents was cited as the most accurate method, but the report identified concerns that platforms will keep this data longer than required and was anticipating sharing it with regulators, both of which would leave
users' privacy at significant 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. It recommended
that the methods should be multiplied up to create the most robust system, and highlighted that many of the technology providers were looking at ways to address circumvention, through things like document forgeries and VPNs (virtual private networks)
which obscure the user's country. Of course the report does not mention the hassle to adults who have to go through ID verification just to prove that they are adults. | 
