‘Catalytic use case for digital ID’: Luciditi’s Dan Johnson talks OSA, age verification

It’s been a big year for Luciditi. As an age verification provider accredited under the UK’s Digital Identity and Attributes Framework (DIATF), the firm has been busy helping businesses navigate regulatory changes under the Online Safety Act (OSA).

Many such businesses already have apps that their customers use. In the latest episode of the Biometric Update Podcast, Dan Johnson, chief product officer of the company, talks about a new age assurance product that can be applied to existing apps, rather than running the process through a branded standalone app.”

“What we’ve developed is, rather than requiring organizations to go through the same development processes we have and the same certification processes, we’ve componentized the capability to prove that you’re over the age of 18, so that it can be implemented in existing apps that have consumers,” Johnson says.

Johnson has plenty of thoughts on the rollout of the OSA, from the surge in Virtual Private Network usage, to the keys to adoption, to the government’s promise that UK drinkers will be able to prove their age to buy a pint in a pub by Christmas. He says younger generations will drive demand for digital age check options because of convenience, but user experience, staff safety and compliance will be a driver on the business side.

Legislation will also help, of course. “The UK spearheaded this concept of age assurance for accessing age restricted material on the internet, and other countries are watching what has been happening in the UK and are starting to implement their own variation.” Johnson notes that, if age assurance goes fully global, the VPN issue goes out the window.

Looking to the real-world analogue, Johnson compares digital age verification to “keeping the dirty magazines on the top shelf.”

“It isn’t taking away anybody’s right to do anything at all,” he says. “It’s just protecting young people.”

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Article Topics

age verification  |  biometric age estimation  |  Biometric Update Podcast  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  Luciditi  |  Online Safety Act