AP tests DigiLocker age tokens

Andhra Pradesh is trying to solve a very 2026 problem with a government identity tool built for paperwork. The state says children under 13 should be kept off social media, and it is testing whether DigiLocker can prove age without handing a child’s full birth certificate to every app. (medianama.com) The push came out of a high-level meeting chaired by Education, Information Technology, and Electronics Minister Nara Lokesh. After that meeting, officials were told to draft a law for under-13 restrictions and a separate age-appropriate framework for teenagers. (newsmeter.in) The line Andhra Pradesh is drawing is not “kids” versus “adults.” The state is talking about a hard barrier for children below 13 and a graded access system for ages 13 to 16, where content and features could be filtered by age band instead of switched fully on or off. (economictimes.indiatimes.com, newindianexpress.com) DigiLocker is the Indian government’s digital document wallet under the Digital India program. It already stores and verifies official records digitally, which is why Andhra Pradesh sees it as a possible trust layer for age checks. (digilocker.gov.in, digitalindia.gov.in) The proposed “age token” works like a nightclub wristband instead of a passport photocopy. A platform would learn “this user is over 13” or “this user is in the 13-to-16 bracket,” without necessarily receiving the person’s full date of birth or other identity details. (medianama.com, deccanherald.com) That privacy angle is the whole reason this idea is getting attention. Most age-gating systems force users to upload identity documents or selfies, while Andhra Pradesh is pitching a model where verification happens once through a state-backed system and apps get only the minimum answer they need. (medianama.com, deccanherald.com) The state is not treating this as a social-media-only cleanup. Officials have described it as part of a broader legal and technical framework, and Medianama reported that the same token logic could later be extended to other online services if the model is adopted. (medianama.com) Andhra Pradesh is also borrowing from foreign playbooks while trying to build an India-specific one. Officials said they will study approaches used in countries including Singapore, Australia, and Denmark before finalizing the law and enforcement design. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) The enforcement piece goes beyond age checks. The state has also talked about digital safety education in schools and stricter action against abusive online content, which suggests the law is being framed as both a gate at sign-up and a policing tool after users get in. (cnbctv18.com) What makes this unusual is that a state government is trying to turn a document wallet into a reusable internet permission slip. If Andhra Pradesh gets platforms to accept DigiLocker-based age tokens, it could create one of India’s first real tests of state-backed age verification at scale. (digilocker.gov.in, medianama.com)