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Meta’s proposed safeguards for teenagers on Instagram and Facebook depend on a system that no one has yet shown can reliably identify users’ ages or their parents.

The settlement with nearly every U.S. state ended a federal trial in Oakland, California, on Wednesday. It gives Meta one year to determine which users are between 13 and 17. Those accounts would receive curfews and time limits by default, and only parents could relax the restrictions.

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There is some fluidity, very intentionally.

The rules would apply only if Meta can identify the age of every user in the participating states and territories, including adults. Possible methods include identity documents, mandatory selfies and analysis of user activity. Accounts that remain unverified after 14 days would face the same restrictions as teenage accounts.

The agreement also does not establish how Meta would confirm that a supervising adult is genuinely a parent. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers questioned what would prevent an older sibling from claiming to be a guardian. California prosecutor Nicklas Akers said there was no plan to require a birth certificate or identification from the parent, adding, "There is some fluidity, very intentionally."

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Teens are notorious for finding workarounds to these types of rules, and parents can also override some of the most stringent ones.

Experts and privacy groups say the practical problems are substantial. Social media industry expert Jasmine Enberg said teenagers often find ways around such rules, while parents can override some restrictions. In Australia, teen usage reportedly rose again after an under-16 ban, with users relying on virtual private networks. France’s Constitutional Council recently struck down an under-15 ban, and regulator Arcom said many children bypassed the rules with parental help.

If users cannot provide identification such as a driver’s license or passport, Meta could estimate their age by analyzing their activity. The Electronic Frontier Foundation said this would "enshrine Meta's harmful surveillance into law" and weaken privacy and anonymity. The settlement limits data collection to what age estimation requires, but the source material ends before describing all of its safeguards.

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This enshrines Meta's harmful surveillance into law, and it will compromise users' privacy and anonymity while increasing their exposure to data breaches and government data requests.