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Why is Google asking for my photo ID?

"If our systems are unable to establish that a viewer is above the age of 18, we will request that they provide a valid ID or credit card to verify their age." Google considers a valid ID as one issued by government, such as a driver's licence or passport.

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Google has announced it will be expanding age verification checks to users in Australia who want to access age-restricted content on YouTube and Google Play. In the coming month, the search giant will introduce age verification checks where users are asked to provide additional proof-of-age when attempting to watch mature content on YouTube or downloading content on Google Play. The move is to provide users with "age appropriate experiences," Google government affairs and public policy senior manager Samantha Yorke explained in a blog post. "As part of this process some Australian users may be asked to provide additional proof of age when attempting to watch mature content on YouTube or downloading content on Google Play. "If our systems are unable to establish that a viewer is above the age of 18, we will request that they provide a valid ID or credit card to verify their age." Google considers a valid ID as one issued by government, such as a driver's licence or passport. The company assured if a user uploads a copy of their ID, it would be "securely stored, won't be made public, and would be deleted" once a person's date of birth is verified. It noted, however, that it will not only use a person's ID to confirm their age but also to "improve our verification services for Google products and protect against fraud and abuse". Google said the move is in response to the Australian government's Online Safety (Restricted Access Systems) Declaration 2022, which requires platforms to take steps to confirm users are over the age of 18 before they can access content that could potentially be inappropriate for under-18 viewers. The declaration was introduced under the Online Safety Act.

See also: eSafety thinks identity verification for social media would be impractical

Similar age verification steps have already been implemented in the European Union under the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD).

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To ensure the experience is consistent, viewers who attempt to access age-restricted YouTube videos on "most" third-party websites will be redirected to YouTube to sign-in and verify their age to view it. "It helps ensure that, no matter where a video is discovered, it will only be viewable by the appropriate audience," Yorke said. "Teens will need to approve parental supervision if their parent or guardian requests it," Meta said. As for the VR parental supervision tools being introduced to Quest, it will be rolled out over the coming months, starting with the expansion of the existing unlock pattern on Quest headsets to allow parents to use it block their teen from accessing experiences they deem as inappropriate. In May, Meta will automatically block teens from downloading IARC rated age-inappropriate apps, as well launch a parent dashboard, hosting a suite of supervision tools that will link to the teen's account based on consent from both sides. "Our vision for Family Center is to eventually allow parents and guardians to help their teens manage experiences across Meta technologies, all from one central place," the company said. The moves from both tech giants follow the parliamentary committee responsible for conducting Australia's social media probe releasing its findings earlier this week. In its findings, it believes online harms would be reduced if the federal government legislates requirements for social media companies to set the default privacy settings for accounts owned by children to the highest levels and all digital devices sold in Australia to contain optional parental control functionalities.

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