UK Spotify users could have their account deleted if they fail age verification
Following the implementation of the UK’s Online Safety Act, Spotify users who fail age verification may lose access to age-restricted content or have their account deleted entirely if they cannot prove they meet the app’s minimum age requirements.
According to a help document on Spotify’s website, the platform has partnered with Yoti to implement age verification for accessing age-restricted content and features on the streaming service.
Age-restricted content on Spotify includes music videos that are labelled as 18+ by rightsholders.
Spotify will now begin to verify the age of users, allowing them to conduct an age check via a facial age scan or through ID verification.
If the streaming service finds that a user is younger than 13 years old, the minimum age required to use Spotify, their account will be removed entirely.
“You cannot use Spotify if you don’t meet the minimum age requirements for the market you’re in,” the streaming platform states.
“If you cannot confirm you’re old enough to use Spotify, your account will be deactivated and eventually deleted.”
Users who are older than 13 years old but cannot prove they are 18 or older will not be able to access mature content on the platform.
This age check requirement has been rolled out to Spotify users in the United Kingdom due to the implementation of the Online Safety Act, which among other restrictions requires any platform that hosts adult content to verify the age of users before allowing them to access that content.
Aimed at curtailing unfettered access to pornography services and adult content on social media, the Act has had widespread ramifications, with platforms such as Spotify having to implement age checks on users in the UK to comply with the new law.
