WhatsApp introduces a new feature to verify the age of users
Experts from the specialized portal WaBetaInfo have noticed that WhatsApp messenger has started to require users to confirm their age. If you specify an incorrect date, you will not be able to use the messenger.
According to the new privacy policy, WhatsApp is only available to people who are 13 years old or older. However, this limit differs in some countries. For example, in some US states, users must be at least 15 years old to access social networks and messengers. In the European Union, messengers are officially allowed for people aged 16 and older.
Recently, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA) came into force in the EU, according to which all Internet services must require the age of users so that very young children cannot access them. To meet this requirement, WhatsApp is introducing age verification.
For example, if a 14-year-old user from the United States enters his or her real date and year of birth, the program will not allow him or her to continue registering. If a 15-year-old user does this, the program will continue to work normally. It is not yet clear whether this limit will vary by country. Most likely, this age verification will be active only in the United States and the European Union.
This check is a pure formality. Thus, no one prevents a minor user from entering an incorrect year of birth and continuing to communicate on WhatsApp. The messenger itself does not require any documents that would confirm a person’s real age.
WhatsApp developers warn that other WhatsApp users will not see the date of birth if a person has provided it. It is not possible to make the date of birth public (as it is implemented in Telegram). You can set the date of birth only once. It will be impossible to edit it later.
The release date and geographic distribution of the innovation have not yet been officially announced. Experts from WaBetaInfo assume that age verification on WhatsApp will start within this year.
