Instagram introduces the compulsory video selfie

To reduce the presence of fake profiles Instagram thinks about the compulsory video selfie, but between saying and doing there is a sea

There are too many fake profiles, too much spam, too many bots and too many dormant accounts on Instagram and something must be done. This seems to be the idea behind the latest novelty introduced by the social, belonging to the Meta group: the mandatory video selfie to verify the identity of users. News still not introduced for all profiles, but already crossed by the well-known social media consultant Matt Navarra.

Let's be clear how things stand: the verification of identity through a video selfie there is already a long time on Instagram, but until now the platform has limited itself to ask only to users deemed "suspicious", such as those who put in place behaviors contrary to the terms of service as the odious practice of "follow/unfollow" to acquire new followers in an unnatural way. Or when the account "reeked" of bots. Now, however, it would seem that verification is about to become mandatory for everyone, or almost. Here's how things stand, at least at the moment.

Video verification on Instagram, what we know

Matt Navarra didn't provide many details about this news, limiting himself to show two screenshots of the verification procedure and adding that "Instagram now uses video selfies to confirm the identity of users. Meta promises not to store biometric data."

In the first screenshot, the following statement appears: "We need a short video of you moving your head in various directions. It will help us confirm that you are a real person and your identity. This video will never be visible on Instagram and will be deleted within 30 days. This will not use facial recognition or collect your biometric data."

The second screenshot, on the other hand, is the one that appears after you finish recording the verification video and, essentially, repeats the same information as the previous one.

Instagram, minors and privacy

All this is happening, at the moment, only on new profiles registered in the United States: existing users have not yet been asked to take a confirmation video selfie.And, to be honest, it is also difficult for this novelty to arrive in Europe, where attention to privacy and the protection of minors (the minimum age to register on the social network is just 13 years old), are not only much higher than in the rest of the world, but also strictly regulated.

It seems sincerely difficult, for example, that Instagram wants to take on the heavy technical consequences of the European GDPR regulation in order to make this function mandatory in Europe.