European Commission's age verification app 'technically ready,' rollout to come

The age verification app aimed at supporting EU Digital Services Act implementation and broader European age-assurance goals is moving closer to operationalization. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced 15 April the app is "technically ready" and will be "soon available for citizens to use."

According to the solution's outline, the app is built upon the European Digital Identity Wallet framework and aims to "deliver a consistent, secure, privacy-preserving and user-friendly age verification experience that can be easily integrated into a wide variety of digital services throughout the European Union."

In a statement, von der Leyen touted the app's open-source and "user-friendly" nature, highlighting how it is built to respect "the highest privacy standards in the world."

"Users will prove their age without revealing any other personal information. Put simply, it is completely anonymous: users cannot be tracked," she said.

The groundwork for the age verification plan began with DSA task force work in June 2024, but the program began to fully materialize over the last year.

EU member states first lobbied for bloc-wide age verification May 2025 as part of their pitches for minors' social media restrictions. Months later, the Commission rolled out guidance on Article 28 of the DSA, which included recommendations for "effective age assurance methods provided that they are accurate, reliable, robust, non-intrusive, and non-discriminatory." To complement the guide, the Commission published an age assurance blueprint that also marked the launch of the app's pilot program in Denmark, France, Greece, Italy and Spain.

Von der Leyen and European Commission Executive Vice-President for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy Henna Virkkunen indicated national efforts on age verification are in line with the goals of the app, but those initiatives are separate from the Commission's program. Some member states are building standalone apps or integrating a solution into national digital wallets, both of which will require certification from the Commission.

"I will set up an EU-wide coordination mechanism," Virkkunen said. "We need a structured approach for EU accreditation of national solutions. And for Member States to ensure that age credentials can be issued easily and across the whole EU. And above all to ensure that we continue to build one solution for the EU, not 27 different ones."

According to von der Leyen, the app will also be accessible to global partners while adoption by the private sector is also encouraged.

"Online platforms can easily rely on our age verification app. So, there are no more excuses," she said. "This app gives parents, teachers, caretakers a powerful tool to protect children. Because we will have zero tolerance for companies that do not respect our children's rights."