UK age-verification firms join related EU project

Members of a UK online safety association are part of an EU group working to create a reliable age verification and parental consent system online across Europe.

OSTIA, the online safety tech industry association, said two of its members will participate in euCONSENT, a consortium formed to launch a cross-border biometric age verification process in 2022.

The OSTIA members, Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA) and Age Check Certification Scheme have joined euCONSENT, which is working to, among other things, deal with ages of consent that range from 13 to 18 in EU member nations.

(UK-based Yoti, a member of OSTIA, this month reported it has improved the accuracy of its biometrics-based age estimation algorithm for children 13 years old to 15 years old.)

The goal is to be able to do that, without knowing the identities of the children, on a total budget of €1.47 million ($1.8 million).

The AVPA is a global trade group made up of independent vendors selling privacy-protecting, age-assurance technology. The certification scheme is a guide for vendors selling age-restricted products, content and services.

Both have proposed a process that is based on the views of European children. They are working with university professors and legal experts. The approach could eventually be extended globally.

The UK government has introduced legislation that would enforce age restrictions for social media registration.

Article Topics

age verification  |  biometrics  |  children  |  data protection  |  EU  |  euCONSENT  |  online authentication  |  OSTIA  |  privacy  |  social media