Age assurance with zero-knowledge proofs needed across EU, say member states

European countries want digital platform providers to align with the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) in assuming greater responsibility for protecting children from harm online, part of which involves implementing secure, privacy preserving age assurance tools.

Reporting from MLex says a draft document from the Council of the European Union, issued by chair nation Poland and dated May 5, “calls for the enhancement of an age verification system that would allow users to prove they are old enough to use a platform without giving their exact age.”

The piece notes that “while EU member countries can’t propose legislation themselves, agreement on a common position could push the European Commission to put forward new legislation.”

ZKPs get shout-out in EU council text on age verification

The draft document, which focuses on mental health for youth in the digital age, gets more specific on age assurance tech than a previous draft from April. It makes explicit mention of  “zero knowledge proof-based age verification processes” that enable age assurance without having to collect any personal information.

It also urges both member states and the commission to “call on online intermediary service providers to comply with their responsibilities for creating a safe online environment for minors.” Platforms classed as intermediary service providers connect users but do not create or control the content they share.

Of particular concern to the Council are addictive design practices, manipulative online choice architecture, online gambling and gambling within games, and “aggressive personalized persuasion techniques.”

In pushing for increased and sustained digital literacy, the draft also addresses the “excessive use of digital devices by the parents, educators, or caregivers of children and adolescents,” which “can interrupt proper adult-child interactions and disrupt the development of essential life skills.”

Member states are planning to adopt a common position at a meeting of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs (EPSCO) Council on June 20. A discussion on the draft text was scheduled for May 12; the Council has yet to release comment.

Regulatory enforcement, solid age verification priorities for incoming Danes

In July, Denmark will take over from Poland as chair of the Council of the EU. In a separate MLex interview, Denmark’s digital minister Caroline Stage Olsen, says age assurance needs to be regulated at the EU level, because “companies like Meta, and other companies such as TikTok, won’t do it themselves, even though they spend a lot of time and advertising money on trying to convince us otherwise.”

Olsen plans to push for enforcement of current regulations, continue the conversation between EU members toward an aligned position on biometric age estimation and age verification, and explore new legislation, if deemed necessary.

“I don’t care which way we have to do it. But it must be a priority for the European Commission to protect our children online. We need to secure solid age verification.”

Article Topics

age verification  |  Digital Services Act  |  Europe  |  European Commission  |  regulation  |  zero knowledge