Meta Pushes Canada for App Store Age Verification ID Laws
Published
- Parental Support: Poll shows 83% of Canadian parents want app store age verification before downloads.
- Privacy Risks: System-level checks could centralize user data, reducing anonymity and tracking online behavior.
- Impact on Open Tech: Open-source projects may face pressure to adopt ID systems to remain compatible.
Meta is urging the Canadian government to introduce new legislation that would require app stores to verify users’ ages before downloads. The company has been lobbying officials in Ottawa for several months and says it has received encouraging feedback from policymakers drafting online safety laws.
Meta’s Push for App Store Age Checks
To support its proposal, Meta hired Counsel Public Affairs to survey Canadians about digital safety for teens. The poll found that 83% of parents favor app stores confirming users’ ages before they can download apps.
Meta highlighted the results, stating that parents want “consistent, age-appropriate standards that better protect teens and support parents online.” The company argues that verifying age at the app store level, possibly with parental approval, is “the most effective, privacy-protective, efficient way to determine a user’s age,” according to Rachel Curran, Meta Canada’s director of public policy.
Privacy Concerns and Corporate Tensions
Although Meta frames the idea as privacy-friendly, critics say the plan could give a few large companies, including Meta, Apple, and Google, significant control over personal data. Users would need to prove their identity to access everyday online services.
Google has publicly opposed the proposal. Kareem Ghanem, Google’s senior director of government affairs, said the plan is a way for Meta to avoid direct responsibility. “Time and time again, all over the world, you’ve seen them push forward proposals that would have app stores change their practices and do something new without any change by Meta,” he stated.
The dispute raises a broader question: should anyone have to verify their identity to use the internet?
Potential Impact on Users and Open Technology
Embedding age checks at the app store or operating system level may sound simple, but it has serious implications. Requiring verified identities for software installation could erode anonymity and limit freedom of expression.
While system-level age verification might reduce some duplicate data collection, it also creates a centralized mechanism controlling who can participate online. Such verification can become a tracking tool, linked to other behavioral data collected from browsing, shopping, and messaging.
Open-source and community-driven projects could be particularly affected. Platforms like Linux distributions, open-source browsers, and privacy-focused tools often avoid handling identity data to protect users. If age verification becomes mandatory at the OS level, these developers might be forced to integrate government-linked ID systems, or risk being incompatible with mainstream services.
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