Spotify age verification checks could see accounts deleted

The Herald Scotland

2 days ago

It means that the Online Safety Act could put users accounts at risk of being deleted if they fail to verify their age.
Will Spotify require age verification?
The music streaming app announced in partnership with Yoti, a digital identity company, that age verification will be carried out via facial recognition or the use of ID documents.
Your Spotify account is getting deleted unless you do age verification pic.twitter.com/QZTJW1tIZN — Calgie (@christiancalgie) July 30, 2025
Those who chose not to disclose their age via this process will have their accounts deactivated, with the option of reinstating their account within 90 days by completing the process via a link sent to their email.
Spotify says: 'You may be presented with an age check when you try to access certain age restricted content, like music videos tagged 18+. Some users will be asked to perform an age check when accessing certain age restricted content.
'You can do this by going through our facial age check. If this shows inaccurate results, you can always correct that with an ID verification.
'If you cannot confirm you're old enough to use Spotify, your account will be deactivated and eventually deleted.'
How do I confirm my age on Spotify?
In the UK, Spotify users must be 13 or over. If the age verification checks confirm the user is under 13, they will have their account deleted.
Spotify, which has a staggering 696 million users worldwide, has stressed Yoti will delete users' data once the verification process is complete.
What have people said online about the new age checks?
Disgruntled Spotify users took to social media to share their thoughts.
One said on X: 'The time for quitting Spotify is now. Who's with me?'
'Age verification on Spotify is insane - time to leave,' another said.
While a third added: 'Age verification for pornographic material is what it was sold as.
'It's turned into age verification for Spotify, Xbox…it's got nothing to do with protecting children.'
Others also felt that now was the time to re-visit old iPods and CDs for music, instead of streaming apps, with one person commenting: 'Age verification on Spotify?!? Time to buy physical music again!'
Does Xbox have age restrictions?
Xbox have said that they are also 'investing in technologies and tools to ensure players have age-appropriate experiences on their platform', while sending notifications to UK users to verify their age.
Via a statement on their website, the gaming brand said that from the beginning of next year, age verification will be required to have 'full access' to the console's social features, such as voice or text communication and game invites.
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Does the UK require age verification?
Age verification under the Online Safety Act came into force in the UK on July 25.
Since then, websites face being fined up to £18million if they do not check users are aged over 18 before letting them access potentially 'harmful' material.