While many states are already pushing for device-level age verification, it’s likely only a matter of time before many websites, apps, and experiences require users to verify their age in some way. We’ve already seen backlash on this topic when Discord shared plans to enable age verification systems, even going so far as to threaten to restrict accounts if people don’t verify their age. It makes sense that people are against the idea of age verification. Because while it offers some positives – like helping to ensure children don’t access adult accounts – it also comes with plenty of dangers. For example, it can expose a person’s private information, making it easier for bad actors to steal a person’s identity, or worse. However, a new change to Google Wallet could help alleviate some of these concerns, at least for Android users.
According to a new APK teardown from Android Authority, it appears that Google Wallet could add the ability for users to add “proof of age” to their Google Wallet. Based on the description of this feature in screenshots captured by Android Authority, it appears that this would allow Google Wallet users to provide proof of age verification without sharing their personal information online. This feature was spotted in version 26.27.941270914 of the Google Wallet app, and while it presents the feature option in Settings, tapping it only leads to a blank page.
There is a trap
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Being able to more easily verify your age on online platforms without exposing your personal information seems like a big win. However, as with anything involving your private data, there is an important caveat to keep in mind here. The most important thing is the fact that you will have to trust Google with this information in the first place.
If you already use Google services or apps, chances are Google already knows a lot about you. However, given the extent of the data Google captures, it makes sense that not everyone would agree with this, and that’s completely normal.
However, if you want to use the new Google Wallet feature (assuming it’s actually available), then you’ll need to agree to share this information with the company. Ultimately, the benefit of this is that it’s better to only have one company with this data, rather than sharing all of this information with every site that requires age verification. But this still does not completely rule out problems with age verification as a whole. But with something like this, even small steps can feel like a step in the right direction.
Having an in-app proof of age feature could help expand on some of Google Wallet’s more underutilized features. However, since this is an APK teardown, there are no guarantees as to when or even if this feature will actually come to the Google Wallet app. Given its fleshed-out appearance – beyond the fact that it doesn’t work at the moment – it’s very likely that Google will release it in some way. However, it remains to be seen when this will happen and whether or not this will change.
