Verifymy’s Andy Lulham talks age assurance myths in latest BU Podcast

The UK, the EU, the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Malaysia: age assurance legislation is sweeping the globe. Between the dozens of regulations and the various methods and terms for checking age online, it can all be a lot to keep up with.

Andy Lulham, chief operating officer of UK age assurance provider Verifymy, has been watching the developments closely. In the latest episode of the Biometric Update Podcast, he says rollouts to date have been “a bit of a mixed picture” in terms of success, but that the Online Safety Act framework in the UK has been “probably the biggest success so far.”

“I think Ofcom has done a really good job with regards to the adult sector. They’ve made a really concerted effort to engage with the industry. They’ve also been clear that enforcement or fines will follow where necessary. But their preference for dialogue and partnership and conversation has also been evident.”

While legislators and regulators continue their efforts, myths persist, making adoption a bit of an uphill effort. “I think the biggest myth is that an age check is the same as an identity check, which it definitely isn’t,” Lulham says. “A relying platform only needs to know whether someone meets a required age threshold. Age assurance providers don’t share or store unnecessary personal data.”

Verifymy’s email-based age inference system is an example of a low friction, privacy-preserving method of age assurance – and an instance of how the language of age assurance is continually evolving.

Listen now: Spotify, Apple, YouTube, Podbean

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Article Topics

age inference  |  age verification  |  biometric age estimation  |  Biometric Update Podcast  |  VerifyMy