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A new change is coming to WhatsApp due to certain U.S. states passing age verification laws. The changes are aimed at protecting children online, and different laws and legislation bills are currently in progress.
Now, Meta is getting WhatsApp ready for these changes. In a recent beta version for Android (v.2.24.12.25) of the app, WABetaInfo discovered code that is meant to make WhatsApp ask you for your birth year. The prompt warns that the year cannot be changed later, and you need to provide it to continue using WhatsApp.
For now, this feature is not available to the public. Although there’s no official reason given for this feature, it’s most likely connected to the laws that are currently in the works in the U.S.
It seems that Meta will not be showing your birth year within WhatsApp, and this prompt seems to only be for compliance with local laws.
It’s probable this prompt will appear to you if you live in a state with age verification laws (or you’re visiting).
These are currently the US states where verification laws have been passed:
This means when this update rolls out publicly, you’ll probably see the prompt if you live in one of them. Of course, as with anything currently in beta, we don’t know exactly when this feature will be officially released. However, it’s probably going to be sooner rather than later so that WhatsApp can be compliant with the legislation.
