ACCS partners with IEEE on certification program for 2089.1 age assurance standard

Standards body IEEE has announced a partnership with the Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS), which will see the UK organization run the certification program for IEEE 2089.1-2024, covering online age assurance.

The announcement kicked off the Age Assurance Standards Summit in Amsterdam, which the ACCS is presenting. Managing director Tony Allen – who co-authored the ISO/IEC 27566 standard for age assurance systems – says that while 27566 is a broad framework, the IEEE standard is “more of a detailed, practical implementation” for online age assurance systems. However, conscious of possible convergence, Allen says “we’ve been careful to make sure we maintain consistency” between the two standards.

The ISO/IEC standard sets out five core characteristics for quality age assurance: functionality, performance, privacy, security and accessibility. Allen says that while the IEEE standard is based on the same principles, it includes specific metrics and other measures of success. So, Allen says, “in order for you to be performing, you need to be able to hit these certain levels of confidence, get these levels of results.

Allen says the partnership is driven in part by the need for a worldwide certification process for age assurance. While disparate regional schemes exist, Allen says the industry needs something that has “global recognition.” IEEE 2089.1-2024 has been written for some time, and Allen calls the certification partnership “a way to bring the standard to life.” And with its deep industry relationships, the ACCS is well positioned to do it.

Standards are a topic of robust discussion at the summit, as the age assurance industry formalizes its operations in response to a rash of laws that have pulled age assurance into the headlines globally. Data privacy and minimization, free speech and access, regulations, biometrics and digital ID all play a key role. Questions around who should be responsible, what works and how to explain it abound.

Allen is scheduled to go deeper on the new certification partnership in a session later in the week.

Article Topics

age assurance standard  |  Age Assurance Standards Summit (2025)  |  Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS)  |  age verification  |  biometrics  |  IEEE  |  IEEE 2089.1-2024  |  ISO 27566-1  |  ISO standards