Bank-Owned ID Software Tested for Australia’s Teen Social Media Ban
A digital identity tool owned by Australia’s major banks is currently being tested as part of efforts to comply with a new law banning teens from social media, which comes into effect in December. Those involved say the trials could draw the financial sector into a globally significant move to regulate teen access to online platforms.
The software in question, ConnectID, verifies a user’s age using information from their bank account. It’s being trialed alongside a facial age estimation system from Singapore-based company k-ID, which specializes in determining user age through facial analysis.
k-ID confirmed that some social media platforms in Australia are already testing the combined solution, though it declined to identify which ones. The company is already known for providing age verification to Discord in the UK, where the chat-based platform recently enforced stricter age rules for adult content.
ConnectID stated that its tool is available as a standalone solution for the upcoming age restriction law, although it can be paired with k-ID’s system. The company added that it hasn’t yet signed any clients specifically for this purpose.
The two companies are also aiming to offer their combined technologies to gaming platforms operating in Australia. While those platforms aren’t directly impacted by the social media ban, they are subject to other laws requiring stricter moderation for content aimed at minors.
If adopted, the partnership would put the banking sector in a central role in implementing a law that has drawn international attention, as governments worldwide explore new ways to protect teens online.
ConnectID was one of several age-verification technologies evaluated in a recent government-commissioned trial. However, the fact that it is now being tested by social media companies—and in partnership with k-ID—has not been previously reported.
The ConnectID system works by linking a website with a user’s bank account, sending back an anonymous confirmation of whether the person is over a specific age. Since many teens already have bank accounts, ConnectID argues its solution could correct errors if facial recognition software fails to determine a user’s age.
“It’s something we’ve been doing with major partners over the last couple of years across any ID,” said ConnectID managing director Andrew Black in an interview.
“Age assurance and social media is an interesting inflection point for that.”
k-ID CEO Kieran Donovan said in a statement announcing the gaming agreement that “partnering with ConnectID means we can help Australian platforms offer safer environments for younger players through real-time age verification”.
The government-backed trial found that facial age-estimation software was generally effective in enforcing age-based restrictions, though its reliability declined near the 16-year-old threshold. A report from last month indicated that selfie-based tools often struggled to consistently determine age at that cutoff.
Authorities have said that social media platforms should progressively implement more accurate ways for users to verify their age.
