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Claude: Anthropic Will Start Verifying Users’ Age and Identity on July 8
Starting July 8, 2026, using Claude may require more than just an email address. Anthropic has updated its privacy policy to explicitly state that it may ask users to prove their age or identity. The process will involve an official ID and a selfie. Here’s what we know.
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ID, selfie, and biometrics: what Anthropic may collect
The change is summed up in a sentence added to the publisher’s privacy policy: in certain circumstances, users may be asked to verify their age or identity. Anthropic says the measure is intended to keep its services "safe and secure". The document even introduces a new data category called Verification Data.
According to the policy published and relayed by CyberInsider, the data that may be collected varies depending on the method used. This includes:
- An image of an official identity document (passport, driver’s license, national ID card, etc.),
- All information shown on the scanned document, such as date of birth and document number,
- A photo or video of the user’s face,
- Facial geometry templates, which can clearly be considered biometric data.
- The verification result (for example, whether the user meets the required age threshold or not).
According to Anthropic’s documentation, only physical original documents are accepted: no photocopies, screenshots, scans, or digital IDs. According to several consistent reports, these checks would apply only to consumer accounts, which is probably what you use, as the services mentioned are Claude Free, Claude Pro, and Claude Max. Enterprise plans and the developer platform are unaffected.
Persona in charge, and some uncomfortable questions
To perform these age checks, Anthropic will rely on a third party. According to user discussions on Reddit, since confirmed by Anthropic’s help center, the provider handling the process is Persona. Persona will therefore collect the ID documents and selfies, even though Anthropic remains the data controller.
What will happen to the data used, such as ID documents and selfies? In its privacy policy ("Data Retention" section), Anthropic says it retains personal data "for as long as reasonably necessary", but does not specify a precise retention period for verification data: ID documents, selfies, or facial templates. In addition, Anthropic does not explain the exact circumstances that would trigger verification.
I’m not convinced Persona is good news. In fact, Persona was already deployed last year on Discord for some users, raising privacy and data-processing concerns. That also reminds me that the European Union’s official age verification app was hacked in two minutes a few months ago.
Launch on July 8, 2026!
As of July 8, 2026, this age verification mechanism will officially take effect. For whom, in which countries, and under what conditions, I don’t know.
More broadly, the arrival of these checks comes amid a tense climate around AI. Just a few days ago, Anthropic had to cut access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 on orders from the U.S. government, a decision that closely followed the launch of Claude Fable 5 for the general public, for a limited time. However, the inability to precisely identify users was among the reasons cited by Washington (which wanted access limited to U.S. citizens). Being able to verify identity "in case of suspicion" would then become a strong argument for the publisher.
Will you need to prove your identity to access Fable 5? It’s not impossible.
