One check to rule them all: quest for reusable age assurance to ramp up in 2026

At first, the idea of reusable identity might sound redundant. After all, what is identity if not a stable set of characteristics that can be referred to as needed to prove one is who they say they are? In the quest to harness digital identity, however, reusability has a more specific, technical meaning – even more so when it comes to age assurance.

While there are varying models, the core idea of a reusable age check is that you only have to verify your age once, and can then apply proof of that single verification across different platforms and services. As such, it is closely related to interoperability, but there are subtle differences. Re-use allows the user to rely on a check completed with the provider of that check on another website. Interoperability allows the user to rely on a check completed with multiple providers, operating independently for other websites. Some systems use digital tokens that live on a user’s device. Others use systems based on the passkey model of digital encryption. The technology is still fresh and the market open, even as standards and testing begin to shape its boundaries.

Several options have already emerged, but as legislation matures in some places and takes root in others, the field is sure to grow. The various factors shaping the field go beyond legislation to encompass payment models for providers, sociocultural attitudes toward pornography and centralized government, privacy and surveillance concerns, youth mental health, and more. In the short to medium term, being able to prove your age once and use that proof repeatedly is going to come in very handy.

Two major reusable age check projects circle one another

Among those currently proffering reusable age verification technology are a smattering of biometrics firms and a couple of initiatives tied to networks of providers. Lithuania-based Ondato has offered its product, OnAge, since 2024. UK firm Yoti offers its Yoti Keys, which are proof-of-age tokens that live on a browser. Portuguese firm AgeVerif claims to offer reusable age checks certified against IEEE 2089.1-2024 by the Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS). French company Needemand has combined gestural biometrics with a PIN code for its reusable model, BorderAge.

In an email to Biometric Update, Jean Michel Polit, chief business officer for Needemand, says BorderAge “features a unique, proprietary ZKP PIN code technology that allows the user to re-use the result of the initial age verification with hand movements and that ‘survives’ private browsing without using any personal data.”

“This means that to be able to re-use the initial age verification a user will not have to create an account with us, or download an app, even in private browsing. This is a major benefit, since forcing users to create an account or download an App means adding friction that can turn them away.”

The last quarter of 2025 saw the launch of two new initiatives tied to existing entities and networked models. Another French firm, Opale.io, invented a system it calls AgeKey, which is based on passkey technology and leverages on-device biometrics for authentication. The company was acquired by k-ID, the Singapore-headquartered firm that offers automated compliance and age controls. Subsequently, the combined entity launched OpenAge, a reusable proof of age system based on the AgeKey model, which allows users to prove their age simply by unlocking their screen.

A day or so after OpenAge launched, a project gestated by the euCONSENT ASBL consortium also went live to offer reusable age checks. AgeAware is 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 euCONSENT project is technically a non-profit organization, but its members include providers Yoti, AgeChecked and VerifyMy, as well as the Age Verification Providers Association.

On launch, there was a degree of tension between the two entities, over fears that toes might get stepped on. The recent announcement that Meta has signed on to OpenAge suggests it has the necessary momentum to become a go-to solution.

However, following the launch announcement, clarifications ensued, and the result appears to be moving in the direction of a solution that factors in everybody – independent age verification and age estimation providers that don’t want to get boxed out of a dominant system, k-ID and its AgeKeys, the advocacy bodies that want to make sure everyone is getting paid fairly for services rendered, and the regulatory bodies whose policies prompted all this to begin with.

The Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA), the industry body representing private age verification, age estimation and age inference providers, has framed interoperability as a fundamental issue for age checks.

“We recognised early on that to compete against both government-issued digital ID and BigTech, we would need to be at least as convenient as them,” says Iain Corby, executive director of AVPA, in comments to Biometric Update. “We welcome the innovation that is now deploying new options for interoperability, and will continue to champion it.”

Corby warns, however, that in the legislative rush to impose age assurance rules on various sites, the industry must remember to prioritize user experience. “As more platforms come into scope, or simply begin to comply with existing laws, we must not let age checks become cookie-popups on speed, as the public will eventually push back,” he says. “So the onus is on the age verification industry to pre-empt that, and we are making excellent progress.”

National digital identity schemes loom over private sector

Enter the government, to say, “We’re here to help.” As nations move ahead on plans to implement national digital ID systems, and others (like India’s Aadhaar) become established as core infrastructure, there have arisen questions about whether government wallets could be vehicles for age assurance – and attendant fears among private firms that they could be rendered irrelevant.

The situation is particularly prickly in the UK, where companies certified under the Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework (DIATF) have been pleading their case to a revolving cast of policymakers. The UK digital ID debate took center stage in a recent episode of the Biometric Update Podcast, wherein the Association of Digital Verification Professionals (ADVP), which counts a number of age assurance providers among its members, argued in favor of DIATF-certified firms, while the Tony Blair Institute made the case for government-led digital identity.

Some question whether the government should shoulder the cost of keeping kids off porn sites and social media platforms. Others fear Big Brother tracking their secret online habits. On the other hand, when it comes to data privacy, trust in digital platforms is not much better, and suspicion lingers, no matter how clearly the industry explains the French double-blind model or the development of global standards to govern age assurance systems.

Sharing members makes for complex relationship

The battlefield would thus seem to host three armies: the government, the private digital age assurance sector and the masses of average internet users who just want to doomscroll or look at some skin, but also agree that it probably shouldn’t be so easy for six-year-olds to learn about the versatility of ball gags. However, the ample overlap – between methods and members and frameworks and goals – defies clean boundaries.

One thing that seems clear is that people do not enjoy having to take additional steps to get to the content they want – colloquially, “friction.” The number of people that enjoy having to click on a cookie popup is zero. Constant age checks to log onto social media or Pornhub are effectively  guaranteed to kill anyone’s mood, choke traffic, and drive users to alternative platforms.

How the world gets to trusted, reusable proof of age is still being decided. But the ground is beginning to stabilize: this month saw the publication of ISO/IEC 27566-1:2025 – Age assurance systems, the first global standard covering age assurance technology. By the end of 2026, the landscape will look different, in that we will begin to see which parts of the age assurance ecosystem are likely to endure, and which are past their use-by date.

One thing is certain: no one intends to stop talking about how to save the children.

“Protecting children is a societal issue that will continue to gain momentum in 2026,” says Needemand’s Polit. “Age assurance will become a reality in an increasing number of countries and use cases. On the other hand, the media coverage of the frequent personal data breaches involving major platforms will increasingly steer web users toward age assurance solutions that do not rely on personal data.” His company is preparing to launch another product in 2026 that offers an alternative to BorderAge’s hand gesture system.

Other solutions promise further innovation. Which is to say, reusable, interoperable age checks are among the age assurance industry’s first major milestones. There are many more to come.

Article Topics

age verification  |  AgeAware app  |  AgeKeys  |  biometric age estimation  |  children  |  euCONSENT  |  interoperability  |  OpenAge  |  passkeys  |  reusable digital ID