# UK social media ban faces privacy and enforcement hurdles

> Ofcom proposes facial scans and ID checks to enforce under-16s ban starting 2027, but experts warn of data risks and workarounds.
- Title: UK social media ban faces privacy and enforcement hurdles
- Summary: Ofcom proposes facial scans and ID checks to enforce under-16s ban starting 2027, but experts warn of data risks and workarounds. Ofcom has proposed four…
- Keywords: ofcom, uk social media ban, age verification, under-16s, facial recognition, photo id, privacy, data security, online safety, technology, social, media
- Source: TechRadar — https://techradar.com/computing/social-media/the-risks-arent-hypothetical-ofcom-reveals-age-check-plans-for-uk-social-media-ban-but-privacy-experts-arent-convinced
- Published: 2026-10-29T13:44:29+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: ofcom, uk social media ban, age verification, under-16s, facial recognition, photo id, privacy, data security, online safety, technology
## UK bans under-16s from social media
The UK government ruled in June that under-16s should be banned from social media platforms, with enforcement scheduled to start during the first half of 2027.
## Ofcom proposes four age-check methods
Ofcom has identified four highly effective methods for keeping under-16s off social media: photo ID matching, bank-based checks, digital ID services like EasyID or Yoti, and facial age estimation via webcam.
## Bank accounts cover most UK teens
Ofcom notes that 90 percent of UK 16 to 17 year-olds have a bank account, making bank-based checks a viable age verification method for the platforms.
## Tech companies decide implementation
Ofcom CEO Dame Melanie Dawes told the BBC that tech companies must decide how to implement age checks that fulfil government requirements while preserving privacy and protecting data.

> Here are things that can work, they must preserve privacy, they must protect people's data, but it's on you to put in place what you think works for you.
## Ofcom rejects three ineffective methods
Ofcom lists self-declaration, general contractual agreements, and verifiable parental consent as ineffective age-check methods that will not be used to enforce the ban.
## Privacy experts warn of data risks
Pieter Arntz at Malwarebytes warns that photo ID matching brings highly sensitive documents and facial images into the process, creating attractive targets for criminals and data breaches.

> Photo ID matching brings highly sensitive documents and facial images into the process, potentially creating another attractive target for criminals.
## Discord breach exposed 70,000 ID images
Arntz cited a breach at a third-party support provider for Discord that exposed government ID images belonging to around 70,000 users as evidence the risks are not hypothetical.
## Facial estimation has margin of error
Facial age estimation can avoid uploading identity documents but still processes sensitive images and makes imperfect predictions, with some technologies having a margin of error of a few years at 16.
## 42 percent of teens plan workarounds
Recent research from EE suggests that 42 percent of 11 to 15 year-olds are planning to try and get around whatever restrictions are put in place, potentially switching to unregulated apps.
## VPNs could expose teens to worse content
Will Richmond-Coggan at Freeths warns that tech-savvy young people will resort to VPNs to access content hosted outside the UK, which is liable to be less well regulated and pose greater risks.
## Online Safety Act made no significant change
Last week Ofcom admitted that the Online Safety Act introduced in July 2025 had made no significant change to the harmful content children had been exposed to online so far.
## Success depends on implementation
Olli Krebs from Incode concluded that none of this will be perfect, and exactly how successful the ban is depends very much on how social media giants implement Ofcom's suggested age-check methods.

> None of this will be perfect. Young people will always push boundaries, and anyone promising a hundred per cent online safety is being unrealistic.
## Key takeaway

Ofcom has proposed four age-check methods for the UK's under-16 social media ban launching in 2027, but privacy experts warn the approaches risk exposing sensitive data while 42 percent of young teens plan to circumvent restrictions.