David Thompson Jul 14, 2022 02:26 PM EDT
Yubo continues to enhance its industry-leading security measures by becoming the first major social media app to introduce age verification across its entire platform.
As global digitalization rapidly becomes more the norm than the exception, social media apps continue to attract young audiences (including minors). Ideally, each platform would ensure age-appropriate participation that contributes to the safety of all users.
Since its 2015 inception, the social live-streaming app Yubo has taken numerous steps to ensure the separation of minors and adults on the platform. Most recently, Yubo has teamed up with digital identity provider Yoti to launch a game-changing age-verification system. Yoti has been Yubo’s trusted partner since 2019.
Rather than utilizing sensitive documents, IDs, or other personal details, Yubo’s age-verification system relies on innovative age-estimation technology that requires a single real-time photo.
As TechCrunch reports: “Yubo announced today it’s becoming one of the first major social platforms to adopt a new age-verification technique that uses live image capture technology to identify minors using its app, in order to keep them separated from adult users. While other companies serving a younger crowd typically rely on traditional age-gating techniques, these are easily bypassed as all that’s generally required is for a user to enter a birthdate in an online form.”
The Need for Age Verification Among Users
Younger social media users regularly interact with their peers on social media apps and other platforms. However, inadequate age or identity verification protocols have historically meant that minors can be contacted by older people who are also on these platforms, including predators and/or fraudsters. Clearly, this puts young users at risk of personal harm.
Although regulatory agencies have taken certain actions to resolve the issue, technology companies have been encouraged to provide their own solutions. Yubo has taken on this challenge by adding this new age-verification system to an extensive range of other safety tools and protocols. This new system is arguably one of the most significant safety features today. Yubo is the first major app to figure out how to successfully separate minors from adults in a simple, scalable, and privacy-friendly way.
John Carr, online child safety consultant, comments, “Regulators should take note of this new approach. Yubo [is] now showing how AI [artificial intelligence] can be used to [determine] if a person is in the right age band. For game sites and social media companies, there is now a new way to safeguard minors. This is a brilliant example of technology being used to help improve online safety, one that is on a fast track toward [becoming] mainstream.”
Yubo’s Existing Safety and Security Enhancements
Age Restrictions
Yubo is one of the few social media platforms to already separate users according to age. The app has distinct communities that separate adult users 18 and over and minors, aged 13 to 17. This prevents more vulnerable teens from interacting with adult users. Anyone under the age of 13 is not permitted to use the app. Using technologies already in place, Yubo is able to analyze photos uploaded by potential users during the sign-up process and detect whether someone is under the age of 13 or an adult who has provided a false age.
Community Guidelines
In addition, all Yubo users must agree to follow its Community Guidelines when they connect for the first time on the app. These rules are designed to protect users from potentially harmful content and behavior. Users are prohibited from sharing material that is pornographic or sexually explicit, including depictions of sexual violence or assault; content that promotes drug use; content that displays graphic injuries or engenders violence; content that features nudity or partial nudity; and content that encourages illegal activities.
No Advertisements or Scams
Yubo is also unique in that it doesn’t rely on advertisers for funding, which means its users’ data is protected and will not be sold to or used by any third parties for targeting. Furthermore, advertisements and scams are not permitted among users in discussion rooms or in their profile. Users are not allowed to sell goods or services, including Yubo accounts. They also can’t ask others to send money or promote payment services like PayPal.
Safety Enforcement
Yubo encourages all users to report suspicious behavior or questionable content, so the company can investigate and take appropriate action. Yubo’s safety team takes every violation of the Community Guidelines seriously and is quick to respond to reports — within minutes for reports about live stream violations and within one hour for reports about user accounts.
How Yubo’s Age-Verification System Works
Yubo’s newest safety feature — age verification — provides well-sought-after proof that a user’s claimed age is their actual age. Equally importantly, the Yubo system achieves this goal without requiring a user’s personal information or documentation, making it privacy-friendly. This functionality also makes it easier for younger users who may not yet have an ID card.
Most importantly, age verification takes place at the app’s initial filter point. Prospective users who cannot verify their age are not permitted to go any further without additional verification and proof of age.
The Yubo Age-Verification Logistics
Users should find Yubo’s age-verification system easy to use. “This system will direct new and existing users to an age verification and agreement screen either during sign-up or as a pop-up for existing users upon launching the app. When they accept, their camera will activate and they’ll be prompted to place their face within an oval that appears on the screen. The ‘liveness algorithm’ also takes a short video that analyzes movement to confirm the image used is not fake or being pulled from a search engine.
“When the face has been detected, users will receive confirmation that they’ve been verified or they’ll be told that their age doesn’t match the age they entered upon sign-up or that they’re not using a legitimate picture.
“If the user’s age is confirmed, they’ll be directed to the homepage and can use Yubo as before. If verification fails, they’ll need to go through a full ID check instead.”
The Ever-Improving Accuracy of Yoti’s Technology
Yoti’s age-verification technology continues to experience year-over-year improvements. Today, the algorithm displays 98.9 percent accuracy in confirming that a certain user is above or below a defined age threshold.
The age estimation technology works equally well across all ages, skin tones, and genders. These attributes ensure that Yubo’s entire user base is equally served by the technology.
Finally, the proprietary Yoti liveness detection technology has received iBeta certification, the premier industry standard.
Redefining Safety in Social Medial
Yubo is raising the bar among social media companies when it comes to online safety. Also partnering with Yoti to develop an age-verification process is photo-sharing giant Instagram. Like Yubo, Instagram is testing new options for users to verify their age so it can provide age-appropriate experiences. Instagram is starting with users based in the United States: “If someone attempts to edit their date of birth … from under the age of 18 to 18 or over, [it] requires them to verify their age using one of three options: upload their ID, record a video selfie or ask mutual friends to verify their age.” Yubo, by contrast, has decided to require age verification of all users by the end of the year.
Yubo started by rolling out the age-verification system as a beta test on 13-to-14-year-old users and plans to expand the process to 100% of all other users by the end of 2022. The company chose to begin with its youngest users because they are the most vulnerable group on social media apps. This new age-verification system will ensure that this population communicates only with similarly aged users. All current and new users will be required to verify their ages so Yubo can ensure they are placed in the correct age group.
Comments from Yubo’s Leadership
Yubo COO Marc-Antoine Durand comments, “We’ve selected YAS [Yoti Age Scan] to give us a simple, private, and secure way to make the app safe for our users, a vital step to help safeguard young people online. We are excited to develop a partnership with Yoti and use [its] identity verification technology to further enhance the safety of our platform for our users.”
Additionally, Annie Mullins OBE, safety expert, and Yubo advisor says, “This is an exciting and innovative step for safeguarding young people online [and] sets an example [for] other platforms, [while highlighting] Yubo’s commitment and leadership to proactive safety measures and protecting young users.”
Yubo Remains Vigilant
Staying on top of user safety is important to Yubo. The company is continually adding new safety features and updating its Community Guidelines to address the needs of its users, especially its youngest and most vulnerable. From moderating live-stream discussions to alerting users when they are participating in harmful activities and now requiring age verification of all users, Yubo remains one of the leading social media apps when it comes to online safety.
About Yubo
Paris-based Yubo is a rapidly growing social live-streaming platform geared toward members of Gen Z around the globe. Established in 2015, Yubo currently reaches more than 60 million users in 40 countries.
Every day, millions of Gen Z users socialize on the app by chatting, live streaming, and playing games. They explore shared interests and gain a new appreciation for their fellow users’ ideas, goals, and talents. Yubo’s strong focus on respect, safety, and authenticity help to ensure that everyone has a positive experience on this increasingly popular alternative to traditional social media platforms.
This story originally appeared on https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/38770/20220714/yubo-continues-to-be-industry-leader-in-online-safety.htm