AgeAware goes live, setting up faceoff between reusable age check systems

AgeAware, the cryptographic token-based age assurance system developed by the nonprofit euCONSENT ASBL, has gone live. The launch comes in tandem with the formal announcement of a similar token-based initiative spearheaded by compliance provider k-ID.

On LinkedIn, euCONSENT calls AgeAware a “standards-based, anonymised, interoperable age verification network” that “allows global providers of age assurance technologies to recognise one another’s age checks, under the governance of euCONSENT.”

“The effect of this collaboration is that once a user has completed an age check on any digital service through one of these participating providers, for set periods determined by various regulators, they will no longer need to repeat the process to access other platforms requiring the same level of assurance that use any of these providers to check the age of their users,” the post says.

The platform prioritizes interoperability and privacy-by-design, hewing to the double-blind standard for age assurance processes established in France. Data minimization and disposal are key principles. The network is open to any age assurance provider that passes an independent audit of its accuracy, privacy and security, and it operates to meet regulatory standards in any jurisdiction.

OpenAge not an age assurance vendor, says k-ID

So is AgeAware aiming to provide the same service as OpenAge, the service that would see re-checks of a verified proof of age token run through k-ID’s network?

That depends who you ask. In an email to Biometric Update, k-ID clarifies that it “only provides age assurance as an orchestration layer” and says it has integrations with many providers, offering facial age estimation, IDV, bank verification, national ID systems and credit card options.

Furthermore, OpenAge is not an age assurance vendor, but functions solely to operate AgeKeys, the passkey-based tokens that power the system. “OpenAge is completely available to any verification provider or orchestrator that wants to adopt the solution; the system is designed to be vendor-neutral,” says k-ID.

“Verification providers can bundle AgeKey in their overall offering and price to their clients as they see fit. They don’t owe any reporting or revenue share to OpenAge. OpenAge never knows what clients the AgeKeys are used on as there is no trackability of users in the double blind architecture of the system. It simply becomes a tool available to the industry to meet the growing demand for more frictionless methods for age assurance, and public demand for privacy.”

If a further re-check is required, the firm says, “the user will be directed to whomever the site has contracted as their age vendor.”

“There is absolutely no obligation to use k-ID’s offering. There will always be a role for third-part age vendors.”

OpenAge has pitched itself as the first big push by industry to address the global age assurance regulations. However, euCONSENT published the first “detailed specification” of the assurance AgeAware scheme in August 2024, and its post says it is the “result of 4 years of development effort, funded by both the European Commission and Safe Online,” a UN granting body dedicated to preventing child sexual abuse. The system has been in soft launch since July,  initially focusing on checks certified to meet Ofcom’s requirement for highly effective age assurance.

Thus, the stage is set for the next big showdown in age assurance: the battle of interoperable solutions.

Cost structure, governance key differences in dueling platforms

The two reusable age check platforms differ in the details. Cost is one; euCONSENT says its AgeAware network “minimises the burden on users and the cost to platforms by sharing the costs of the initial age check across more than one digital service.”

“Providers never learn which websites or apps a user visits, but are given management information on how many of their checks have been used both directly by their own clients, and indirectly through competing AAPs,” says euCONSENT, explaining how the system tallies costs.

OpenAge’s pitch is cheap re-checks of the initial AgeKey, promising “cost recovery-based pricing at a fraction of a cent.” And it promotes its foundation in passkey standards established by the FIDO Alliance.

AgeAware says its network offers a “sustainable commercial model that incentivises age assurance providers to participate and continue to innovate, offering their services through a competitive market to platforms.” It is open to any age assurance provider that passes an independent audit of its accuracy, privacy and security.

“The platforms which use age assurance services within this network retain the contractual relationship with their preferred provider, including any warranties about the effectiveness of the age checks on which they rely. The AgeAware network is established through bilateral contractual relationships between providers that maintain this legal guarantee of effectiveness through the supply chain.”

The stakeholders behind AgeAware are insistent on this point: they want a competitive global age assurance sector. Hence the emphasis on euCONSENT’s nonprofit status, and the promise “not to engage in any anti-competitive behaviour by this cooperative network.”

But OpenAge also offers an undeniably compelling model. The opening moves have been made. The game is just beginning.

Article Topics

age verification  |  AgeAware app  |  AgeKeys  |  double-blind age assurance  |  EU age verification  |  euCONSENT  |  facial age estimation (FAE)  |  k-ID  |  OpenAge