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A booming industry of AI age scanners, aimed at children's faces
A booming industry of AI age scanners, aimed at children’s faces
“Age assurance” checks are increasingly popular among lawmakers trying to wall kids off from the open internet. But they rely on a style of surveillance that ranges “from ‘somewhat privacy violating’ to ‘authoritarian nightmare.’”
By Drew Harwell
August 7, 2024 at 5:57 a.m. EDT
In 2021, parents in South Africa with children between the ages of 5 and 13 were offered an unusual deal. For every photo of their child’s face, a London-based artificial intelligence firm would donate 20 South African rands, about $1, to their children’s school as part of a campaign called “Share to Protect.” ... The company, Yoti, had developed an AI tool that could estimate a person’s age by analyzing their facial patterns and contours. But to make it more accurate — and to bolster the company’s clientele of government agencies and tech firms — its developers needed more photos of kids. ... Riaan van der Bergh recalled dutifully scanning his daughter and son, ages 11 and 10, in their suburban Johannesburg living room one afternoon, telling them the technology could help keep kids safe on a perilous web. But other parents, he said, hated the idea with an “extreme passionate fear.” ... The skepticism was “overwhelming,” he added, “especially from the moms, who said, ‘No way, it’s my children.'”
With promises of protecting children, a little-known group of companies in an experimental corner of the tech industry known as “age assurance” has begun engaging in a massive collection of faces, opening the door to privacy risks for anyone who uses the web. ... The companies say their age-check tools could give parents a better sense of control and peace of mind. But by scanning tens of millions of faces a year, the tools could also subject children — and everyone else — to a level of inspection rarely seen on the open internet and boost the chances their personal data could be hacked, leaked or misused.
Companies such as Yoti, Incode and VerifyMyAge increasingly work as digital gatekeepers, asking users to record a live “video selfie” on their phone or webcam, often while holding up a government ID, so the AI can assess whether they’re old enough to enter. ... Some of the biggest social networks, such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, now use age-check tools to detect and restrict their youngest users. OpenAI uses them for its ChatGPT chatbot; so, too, do a number of online gaming and adult-content sites, including Pornhub and OnlyFans.
The systems’ prominence has surged alongside concerns that the internet, and particularly social media, could be damaging America’s youth — a crisis the U.S. Surgeon General deemed so dire he proposed cigarette-style warning labels for the platforms he said threatened “significant mental health harms.”
{snip}
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https://wapo.st/4fyCW6y
By Drew Harwell
Drew Harwell is a reporter for The Washington Post covering technology. He was a member of an international reporting team that won a George Polk Award in 2021. Twitter https://twitter.com/drewharwell
“Age assurance” checks are increasingly popular among lawmakers trying to wall kids off from the open internet. But they rely on a style of surveillance that ranges “from ‘somewhat privacy violating’ to ‘authoritarian nightmare.’”
By Drew Harwell
August 7, 2024 at 5:57 a.m. EDT
In 2021, parents in South Africa with children between the ages of 5 and 13 were offered an unusual deal. For every photo of their child’s face, a London-based artificial intelligence firm would donate 20 South African rands, about $1, to their children’s school as part of a campaign called “Share to Protect.” ... The company, Yoti, had developed an AI tool that could estimate a person’s age by analyzing their facial patterns and contours. But to make it more accurate — and to bolster the company’s clientele of government agencies and tech firms — its developers needed more photos of kids. ... Riaan van der Bergh recalled dutifully scanning his daughter and son, ages 11 and 10, in their suburban Johannesburg living room one afternoon, telling them the technology could help keep kids safe on a perilous web. But other parents, he said, hated the idea with an “extreme passionate fear.” ... The skepticism was “overwhelming,” he added, “especially from the moms, who said, ‘No way, it’s my children.'”
With promises of protecting children, a little-known group of companies in an experimental corner of the tech industry known as “age assurance” has begun engaging in a massive collection of faces, opening the door to privacy risks for anyone who uses the web. ... The companies say their age-check tools could give parents a better sense of control and peace of mind. But by scanning tens of millions of faces a year, the tools could also subject children — and everyone else — to a level of inspection rarely seen on the open internet and boost the chances their personal data could be hacked, leaked or misused.
Companies such as Yoti, Incode and VerifyMyAge increasingly work as digital gatekeepers, asking users to record a live “video selfie” on their phone or webcam, often while holding up a government ID, so the AI can assess whether they’re old enough to enter. ... Some of the biggest social networks, such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, now use age-check tools to detect and restrict their youngest users. OpenAI uses them for its ChatGPT chatbot; so, too, do a number of online gaming and adult-content sites, including Pornhub and OnlyFans.
The systems’ prominence has surged alongside concerns that the internet, and particularly social media, could be damaging America’s youth — a crisis the U.S. Surgeon General deemed so dire he proposed cigarette-style warning labels for the platforms he said threatened “significant mental health harms.”
{snip}
Share
https://wapo.st/4fyCW6y
By Drew Harwell
Drew Harwell is a reporter for The Washington Post covering technology. He was a member of an international reporting team that won a George Polk Award in 2021. Twitter https://twitter.com/drewharwell