How Google and Meta Use AI to Verify Ages for Canadian Teens

The federal government introduced digital safety legislation that would ban social media for kids under 16. In response, major platforms are rolling out age‑assurance technology to estimate users’ ages.

Age assurance is the umbrella term for how platforms determine a user’s age. It covers simple age declarations, AI‑based age estimation from online behaviour or images, and age verification that requires government ID.

Google said it will expand its age‑assurance technology to Canada after testing it in the United States. The company’s system looks at a user’s search queries and the types of YouTube videos they watch, and it does not collect any additional information for age assurance.

Google said users identified as under‑age receive extra safeguards, such as break‑reminder tools, limits on content recommendations, disabled personalized ads and blocked access to adult‑only apps. If an adult is mistakenly flagged, Google said they can prove their age with a government ID, a selfie, or a credit‑card check.

Google said that for users who submit a government ID, the platform stores only the date of birth and deletes the ID after a short period. It also uses the PrivateID service to analyse selfies; PrivateID tells Google whether the person appears to be of age without keeping the image or the exact age data.

Meta said that when it suspects an account belongs to someone under 18, it moves the profile into a teen account with tighter contact and content limits. Meta also uses AI to automatically remove users it believes are under 13 from its services.

Meta said its AI scans whole profiles for contextual clues—such as birthday posts or mentions of school grades—to decide if an account is likely owned by a minor. The AI examines posts, comments, bios and captions; if the account is deemed under‑age, Meta deactivates it and requires proof of age to reactivate. Meta also announced it will use visual analysis to scan photos and videos for age clues, without employing facial‑recognition technology.

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