Persona and Paravision power Substack’s biometric age estimation

People visiting Substack from within the UK and Australia may find some content blocked or blurred out until they perform age verification with technology from Persona and Paravision.

The online publication platform has announced changes that affect publications’ chat areas, direct messages, comments on posts and notes on users’ home feeds.

Substack reviews the implications of the UK and Australia’s respective Online Safety Acts for its users in an explanatory post, and the process for facial age estimation with selfie biometrics, provided by Persona. If age estimation is unsuccessful, the user can perform age verification by taking a photo of a government-issued ID like a biometric passport or driver’s license. A manual review process is available for users who cannot complete either of the first two methods.

The results of the check are stored so users do not have to repeat the process.

Substack laid out its position on the OSAs in an October post, stating that the laws “are not necessarily effective at achieving their stated aims, and they come with real costs to freedom of expression,” but it will “comply with local regulations where required.”

Providers celebrate AATT findings

Persona integrates face biometrics algorithms developed by Paravision, and the companies’ combined technologies scored a mean absolute error (MEA) rate of 1.56 in the Australian Age Assurance Technology Trial (AATT), the best result recorded. Persona’s Paravision-powered age estimation also delivered a strong balance of low false positive rate (FPR) and false negative rate (FNR) when checking ages with a two-year buffer.

“We’re proud that Persona’s solution performed at the top of its class,” comments Persona VP of Partnerships Sasha Dobrolioubov. “Our collaboration with Paravision demonstrates that it’s possible to combine privacy-first design with industry-leading accuracy, creating digital trust solutions that are safe and easy to use. Our platform serves businesses across industries and powers some of the world’s most recognized platforms, including Roblox and Reddit.”

“These results underscore the precision and maturity of our AI models,” says Paravision CEO Doug Aley. “We’ve invested deeply in accuracy and fairness because the stakes are high: age assurance must protect young users without compromising accessibility for those of proper age.”

The AATT found Persona’s product to meet Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 9.

Article Topics

age verification  |  biometric age estimation  |  facial age estimation (FAE)  |  Online Safety Act  |  Online Safety Act (Australia)  |  Paravision  |  Persona  |  Substack