Greece has announced plans to introduce a government-operated app in 2025 aimed at enhancing parental oversight of mobile devices. The Kids Wallet app, set to launch in March, will provide digital age verification and browsing controls to safeguard children under 15 from the risks of excessive and inappropriate internet use.
The app will be integrated into a widely used government services platform and will work alongside an existing smartphone app for adults to manage digital identification documents. According to the Minister of Digital Governance, Dimitris Papastergiou, the Kids Wallet app will utilize advanced algorithms to monitor usage and implement strict authentication processes.
A recent survey revealed that a significant percentage of children aged 9-12 in Greece have access to the internet through personal devices, with a considerable portion engaging in daily social media use and encountering inappropriate content due to a lack of awareness about safety tools.
Papastergiou emphasized that the Kids Wallet app will simplify parental control and serve as the official national tool for age verification. The government aims to have the app pre-installed on smartphones sold in Greece by the end of 2025, despite facing criticism from certain digital rights and religious groups.
Government-controlled apps and online services have gained popularity in Greece for streamlining bureaucratic processes, with the new child protection measures set to involve more direct government intervention than existing regulations in other European countries. These measures will also increase accountability for social media platforms in enforcing age controls.
Papastergiou highlighted the challenge of verifying users' ages online, noting the potential for misrepresentation. The Kids Wallet app seeks to address this issue by providing a reliable mechanism for age verification, ensuring a safer online environment for children in Greece.
