To help consumers confirm their age to internet services while maintaining their privacy, the European Union is creating a new, open-source Android app for age verification. Other member states will be able to construct their own unique solutions using this application as a toolbox component.
The app is currently in its early prototype stage and is not yet prepared for production use. Furthermore, complete security features like code obfuscation and anti-tampering safeguards are still absent from its present edition.
Although there may be substantial benefits to using a homegrown app for age verification rather than entrusting private data to outside age assurance providers, plans for this app have generated some controversy online.
The Google Play Integrity API will be used for device and app verification in this app. The API verifies whether the software was downloaded from the Play Store and whether the operating system has a Google license. This implies that an application will not function if you attempt to use it on an Android device that is not licensed by Google or if you attempt to obtain it from a source other than the Play Store.
Although not currently in use, this feature is planned. In addition to potentially restricting user freedom, this strategy would be in violation of Google's antitrust lawsuits brought by the EU.
Concerns regarding the planned Google Play Integrity integrations have already been voiced by a large number of consumers and developers on GitHub. Opponents contend that this action will weaken EU digital sovereignty and increase reliance on US IT companies.
The developers were directed to pre-existing identity apps like Yivi, a Dutch age-verification software that runs without the Google Play Integrity API and is accessible on open-source app stores like F-Droid, by those who responded to the idea in a GitHub.
The problem is still open as of this writing, and it has garnered notice due to a Reddit discussion. The project's maintainers haven't addressed the issues yet, though.