AVPA laud findings from age assurance tech trial

The Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA), and several of its members, have welcomed the publication of preliminary findings from the Age Assurance Technology Trial (AATT), commissioned by the Australian Government.

In a release, Alastair Graham, co-chair of the AVPA, says the trial is “the largest, government-sponsored, independent assessment of the sector’s solutions, including real-world testing of a statistically representative sample of Australia’s diverse population, and provides a strong endorsement of its capabilities.”

Yoti’s Julie Dawson, also co-chair of the AVPA, says the trial will provide “a wealth of evidence about the full range of age assurance methods, be they traditional verification or innovative estimation techniques.”

And it demonstrates, as the ATT’s key preliminary finding says with confidence, “age assurance can be done in Australia.” There are no substantial technological limitations, and there are plenty of firms offering “a rich and rapidly evolving range of services which can be tailored and effective depending on each specified context of use.” Developers understand and practice compliance, and are building advanced fraud prevention capabilities into their tools to address known attack vectors including AI-generated spoofing and forgeries.

Providers shouldn’t retain personal data: AVPA

The sole finding in the negative concerns firms that over-anticipate regulators’ needs, in terms of who can access data. Since regulators in different jurisdictions may ask for different levels of access, vendors should consider whether to avoid building these capabilities into their tech, or avoid implementing them in systems until regulators ask.

In comments emailed to Biometric Update, Iain Corby, director of AVPA, says the organization’s code of conduct has “always required that members ‘follow ‘privacy and security by design’ principles and make all reasonable endeavours to minimize the use and retention of personal data.’”

Outside of “rare, specific legal requirements for an audit trail,” which could include personal information, AVPA “would always advise against its retention.”

“Where we see draft legislation that naively requires providers to keep personal data, we seek to remove these provisions,” Corby says. “The use of a certified age assurance solution should be defined as sufficient defence to lawsuits and enforcement action.”

But, Corby says, “it is hard to think of a regulator that does require this at present.”

The industry continues to develop and evolve at a steady pace, and Dawson says AVPA is “encouraged to see growing recognition of the critical role that age verification technologies can play a crucial role in protecting children and empowering adults online.” She says the final AATT report can provide a “scalable blueprint for global markets, including the UK, Singapore and Europe, that are monitoring Australia’s lead,” and looks forward to further consultation with Australian regulators, “to translate this positive momentum into real-world deployment.”

“We hope that the evidence base that this work has created will continue to be refreshed by regulators around the world on a regular basis, as innovative approaches continue to develop.”

AATT almost done testing, entering participant review stage

The full presentation by AATT Project Director Tony Allen is available online – along with the practice statements submitted by all 53 participants, which describe the various technologies and services.

Allen confirms that the trial is nearly finished the testing phase, and is entering the participant review stage, during which participants can comment on their evaluations. Once that stage is complete, the final report will be submitted to Parliament, and while Allen says it’s up to them after that, he expects publication in August.

Allen also runs through the trial’s approach, and highlights the importance of the technology readiness level (TRL) scoring system it uses to evaluate tools. One finding is that providers judged at or above TRL 7 – “Integrated Pilot System Demonstrated” – were likely to have made accurate statements about their tech’s capability. The TRL score for each participant will be included in the final report.

Allen says the team is working toward a “very comprehensive document” – currently standing at around about 187,00 words, divided into ten parts – that will look at methods, subcategories of age assurance (age verification, age estimation, age inference and parental controls), assessment criteria, and more.

Article Topics

Age Assurance Technology Trial  |  age verification  |  Australia age verification  |  AVPA  |  biometric age estimation  |  biometrics  |  digital identity