Wizz dials up biometrics from Yoti to prevent sextortion, achieve EU compliance

Add “sextortion” to the lexicon of online threats prompting movement in the digital ID and age verification space. Wizz, the France-based social media app that matches people of similar ages similar to how Tinder matches potential romantic interests, is leveraging Yoti’s biometric technology for new mandatory user verification measures, in an attempt to ensure the app remains a “safe space for young people” amid shifting regulations.

A release from Wizz says new safety features added in its latest version include user verification that matches a selfie registered during onboarding with a user’s profile image, to ensure all users have been verified. Additional safeguards include content filters and moderation for hateful or offensive material. Wizz already utilized Yoti’s age estimation technology for mandatory user checks.

Per the release, Yoti’s AI-enabled biometrics system holds the most stringent ISO/IEC 27001 certification and is certified to SOC 2 Type 2 for its technical and organizational security controls by a top four auditing company. It holds the Age Verification Certificate of Compliance issued by the BBFC and is certified to specification PAS:1296 regarding age checking. The system segments users by age within a three-year range to ensure they have no interaction with anyone who is not either one year younger or one year older than them.

Wizz has beefed up protections in the wake of revelations reported last July by NBC that it had been used for sextortion – the practice of soliciting explicit photos from minors, which are then used for blackmail and extortion. With 20 million users, Wizz regularly ranks among the Apple App Store’s top ten apps; however, Apple recently suspended new downloads to conduct a safety review. The suspension has since been lifted.

Wizz’s CEO Aymeric Roffé says the company “built Wizz from the ground up to be safe and every day we seek to make it safer.”

“We’re proud to continue to offer young people a place to express themselves and build new friendships.”

Digital Services Act expected to expand in scope 

The new security features also reflect changes to the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which is increasing its already heightened protections for young people to cover “all online intermediaries and platforms that offer their services to users based in the EU” as of February 17. With 20 million users, Wizz does not fall under the original law’s age verification requirements, which only pertained to platforms that have more than 45 million monthly users. (So-called Very Large Online Platforms, or VLOPs.)

However, the changes taking effect from this month mean that Wizz – and many other online services – now must comply, just the same as Instagram or TikTok.

The DSA also includes new requirements for advertising that targets young people. Advertisers are prohibited from collecting special categories of personal data from minors for the purposes of generating tailored ads. Other measures could include alternative terms and conditions and the banning of “dark patterns” designed to manipulate consumer choices.

But in deciding who can do what, the first step is knowing a user’s age – or at least being able to make a good ballpark guess. Precise age verification is likely to be less common than age assurance tools, such as age estimation, which can confirm minimum age thresholds using minimal information.

“The Digital Services Act is the first major piece of online safety legislation, echoing the impact of GDPR,” says Florian Chevoppe-Verdier, a public policy associate at Yoti. “It is poised to set the tone for industry standards, and it is likely other advanced economies and trade blocs will follow suit. While compliance poses challenges for businesses, trusted age assurance providers such as Yoti can make the online world safer. The societal benefits will be immeasurable and truly transformative.”

Article Topics

age verification  |  children  |  selfie biometrics  |  social media  |  Yoti