Facebook Dating in USA can verify age via face scan

Meta now gives American users of Facebook Dating the option to have their age verified via a facial scan. Then the facial features are used to estimate a user’s age without identifying them.

Meta announces in a blog post that Facebook Dating users in the United States can now prove they are over 18 years old in two ways. This can be done by sending a copy of an identity document or a selfie video. A request for verification is only made if Meta suspects that the user is underage.

The selfie video is examined by the facial scanning software from Yoti, a software company that specializes in digital identity verification. Meta says the software will only see an image from the video “and nothing more.” It can take up to 20 minutes for the user’s age to be verified and for the app to show the results. “Yoti’s technology estimates your age based on your facial features, shares that estimate with us, and then immediately deletes the image. The technology can’t recognize your identity, only your age,” writes Meta.

The feature is now only available in the US. Whether it will be rolled out worldwide at a later date is not yet known. Facebook Dating has been available in the Benelux since 2020.