Gaining momentum

Von der Leyen’s announcement — although technical — is indicative of the huge momentum behind social media bans to keep kids and teenagers away from platforms and their addictive algorithms.

Seven countries that had already been working on their own apps in coordination with the EU will deploy their versions by the end of the year, the senior Commission official said: Cyprus, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Ireland and Spain.

The app gives people three ways to prove their age: passports, national IDs and a third way dubbed a “QR code” under which a trusted provider such as a school or a bank can attest to a user’s age.

The application will then store the information as to whether the user is over 13, 15 or 18 years of age without retaining other data, the Commission official said. Online services, like adult content sites or social media, can then call on the app to check if a user is over a certain age.

Von der Leyen will present the solution to EU leaders on Thursday in a bid to gain political support. The call will be attended by eight heads of state as well as Macron — from Cyprus, Czechia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Spain and Slovenia — as well as by Austrian, Dutch, Polish and Portuguese digital ministers, an Élysée official said.   

The app will work by using IP addresses, which show the location of users, meaning it can be circumvented with a virtual private network, the senior Commission official said.

Rand Hammoud, director of security at civil society group Center for Democracy and Technology Europe, said in an emailed statement that the plans “provide little reassurance around the many data protection, anonymity and security concerns for high-risk individuals” such as human rights defenders, people in exile or journalists “who all need to be able to access online services anonymously and in safety.”

Hammoud said it is also unclear what kind of data access governments and EU agencies would have through the system, and how the Commission would prevent tracking or sharing personal data with other companies or governments.