Popups, AI, algorithms. So Instagram tries to protect minors
What is Instagram planning?
If Beijing cries, Silicon Valley does not laugh. Social network struggling with more stringent settings to certify the age of its users (read also: Facebook & co, can you access only with Spid? Useless. Professor Zanero speaks ) in an attempt to protect minors, who abound on Instagram. And if TikTok currently limits itself to carrying out the provisions of the Privacy Guarantor by asking the age of its members (so as to at least begin to census the "under 13" profiles, which in fact spread uncontrolled on the Asian platform) and accepting what they declare , Mark Zuckerberg's group seems to have taken the challenge of demographic control a little more seriously, although the effects and effectiveness of the upcoming squeeze are all to be verified.
THE NEWS OF INSTAGRAM FOR THE PROTECTION OF MINORS
Starting from 17 March, the Instagram update is being distributed all over the world, including Italy, which includes a function aimed at limiting the exchange of private messages via chat between adults and minors under 18 who are not connected by mutual "follow". It is, some will point out, a barrier that is all too easily circumvented, given that it is unhinged by "following" the adult in question, but at least it should stem the solicitations via social media, especially those made by criminals towards minors unknown to them. .
All this through an algorithm that, according to the social network in question, “is based both on machine learning technology capable of predicting the age of users, and on the age that users provide us when they subscribe to Instagram. By moving towards end-to-end encryption, we are investing in features that can protect privacy and keep people safe without accessing the content of their direct messages ”.
PROFILING AND DOUBTS ABOUT PRIVACY
However, it remains to be seen whether artificial intelligence and machine learning used to ascertain the age of users, although in the field to protect them, are not in turn harmful to the privacy of minors, given that they constitute a profiling (which will however take place in the sunlight. , in the sense that it is declared, even if we do not know which action activates it). For its part, Instagram stresses that, since "the minimum age to use" the US platform "is 13", the social network is aware "that younger people can lie about their date of birth". Hence the need not to be limited to self-certification. "We want to do more to prevent this from happening."
And they will not be the only innovations implemented: among these also popups and disclaimers, in short, a series of safety warnings that will serve to remind minors to pay attention even in chats with adults with whom they are already in contact. Profiling also comes into play here, but this time of the Instagram user of age, who will be reported as potentially suspicious when forwarding friend requests or messages at full blast to minors. Also in this case it will be necessary to check whether the profiling is compatible with the privacy of the subscribers.
PROFILE CLOSED FOR PERSONAL REASONS? ONLY ONE OPTION
Instead, the obligatory nature of the armored profile in the case of a minor fades: "We know that some younger users, such as aspiring creators or athletes, get value from public profiles – they say – For this reason, they can still choose to have a public account after reading our options. If a young user does not choose the private account when he signs up to Instagram, we will send him a notification after some time, highlighting the benefits of a private account and reminding him to check the settings. This is only a first step, we are evaluating further measures we can implement to protect the youngest on Instagram, including additional privacy settings ”. In short, the closure of the profile (which does not mean that it is deleted from the social network, but that it can only be seen by registering with that user and being manually accepted), despite appearing as the most obvious, sensible and effective countermeasure, remains only recommended. Given the turnover of the very young influencers and the many starlets that pop up daily on social media, it is not difficult to understand why.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/popup-ia-algoritmi-cosi-instagram-prova-a-tutelare-i-minori/ on Thu, 18 Mar 2021 09:23:07 +0000.