The P5-million question in age verification
The Philippines is considering Senate Bill 595, which aims to block children under 13 from social media and require verified parental consent for teenagers aged 13-17. The bill poses technical challenges for age verification, with experts arguing that age estimation is not reliable and full identity verification is needed.
The Philippines is attempting to implement a layered approach to age verification on social media. Senate Bill 595 would block children under 13 from social media while requiring verified parental consent for teenagers aged 13-17. The National Privacy Commission has flagged concerns about collecting minors' data for this purpose. Oon Ee Khoon, senior vice president at Jumio, described the technical challenge of verifying age, particularly at the 12-13 threshold. Age estimation using AI is not reliable, and full identity verification is needed, involving a government-issued ID paired with a live selfie. The Philippine Identification system becomes increasingly important for this process. Third-party verifiers carry the technical load and absorb part of the legal risk under SB 595, with fines of up to P5 million for non-compliance.
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