Yoti welcomes age assurance direction in UK Strategic Priorities

Yoti has weighed in on the UK government’s publication of its final draft Strategic Priorities for online safety. Prepared by the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSIT), the document names five areas of focus to maintain online safety – safety by design, transparency and accountability, agile regulation, inclusivity and resilience, and technology and innovation – and a blog from Yoti addresses each in turn.

Prompting the most commentary is priority one, safety by design: “Embed safety by design to deliver safe online experiences for all users but especially children, tackle violence against women and girls, and work towards ensuring that there are no safe havens for illegal content and activity, including fraud, child sexual exploitation and abuse, and illegal disinformation.”

As Yoti puts it, “the government believes the goal should be to prevent harm from occurring in the first place, wherever possible.”

Yoti’s interest is primarily in the question of age assurance. “A key part of this first priority is ensuring companies are effectively using age assurance technology to protect children from harm online,” says the blog, calling attention to the government’s desire to “see a focus on developing the evidence-base around age-appropriate experiences to work towards more detailed recommendations for companies on how to protect children in different age groups.”

The Strategic Priorities recommend that services use technologies that are already available  – which could be interpreted as a win for smaller enterprises following last week’s meeting with DSIT on the Gov.Uk Wallet issue, even if it hedges on the question of innovation.

In short, says Yoti, we’re right here.

“There is a healthy ecosystem of age assurance providers represented by the trade body Age Verification Providers Association,” Yoti says. “As one age assurance provider, we have already completed over 800 million age assurance checks using a range of methods and we’re doing this for many of the largest global platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, OnlyFans, Avakin Life and Yubo.”

Furthermore, Yoti says, in addition to a diverse selection of age assurance providers, there is also an array of options technologically to suit various use cases. For instance, “facial age estimation is by far the most practical and inclusive method to help platforms check if a user is above or below a certain age (such as +/- 13, 16 or 18).”

“Another method is a reusable Digital ID app (such as Yoti ID, Post Office EasyID or Lloyds Bank Smart ID). Teenagers can use an identity document, such as a passport (which 86 percent of 13 year olds in the UK own) or a PASS card, to set up their Digital ID and then easily and securely prove their 13+ status from their phone.”

The remainder of Yoti’s comments on the draft are generally supportive. On the question of shifting age assurance regulations, it angles for “a sharing mechanism across UK regulators to review science, data and evidence-based results – spanning all UK regulators – including Ofcom, the ICO, the Home Office and the Gambling Commission.”

The technology and innovation priority, which aims to “foster the innovation of online safety technologies to improve the safety of users and drive growth,” would seem to be somewhat at odds with the recommendation to use existing technology. But Yoti notes that it “focuses on supporting the development of innovation that can support agile regulation” so that “age assurance solutions preserve users’ privacy to a high standard, while ensuring the effective protection of all children online.”

In other words, refine and adapt existing tech according to best practices and changing regulations. As to whether there is room for new tech, the answer may be yes – but if age assurance is to normalize, at some point the government will have to pick a direction and stick to it.

Ofcom readies the lash for noncompliant sites, launches new investigation

Closely related to the question of regulation is the matter of enforcement. UK regulator Ofcom, which is responsible for enforcing the Online Safety Act, has begun prosecuting violators in earnest. A release says it has opened up two new investigations into Kick Online Entertainment S.A., related to pornographic and exploitative content on its website, Motherless.

“We have today launched investigations into whether this provider has failed in its duties to: complete – and keep a record of – a suitable and sufficient illegal content risk assessment and; respond to a statutory information request,” says Ofcom’s statement.

“We have received complaints about the potential for illegal content and activity on this site, including child sexual abuse material and extreme pornography. In light of this, we will also be considering whether the provider has put appropriate safety measures in place to protect its UK users from illegal content and activity and may launch an additional investigation into its compliance with this duty if appropriate.”

Kick Online Entertainment is clearly no stranger to legal action of this sort: a statement on the Motherless site addresses 18 U.S. Code § 2257, which requires providers to create and maintain individually identifiable records pertaining to every performer portrayed in sexually explicit content.

“Any actual human beings depicted in images or videos appearing on the website were at least 18-years-old at the time those images or videos were produced,” the statement says. It goes on to list, as its custodian of records, an address in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Last week, Ofcom launched enforcement investigations into two other porn site operators, Itai Tech Ltd. and Score Internet Group LLC. It is also investigating a site that hosts suicide discussion forums.

Article Topics

age verification  |  children  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  face biometrics  |  Ofcom  |  Online Safety Act  |  regulation  |  reusable digital ID  |  UK age verification  |  Yoti