FTC workshop to cover broad scope of age verification, age estimation issues

The Federal Trade Commission has released the agenda for its workshop on issues related to age verification and estimation technologies.

Set to take place on January 28, 2026 from Washington, D.C., the all-day online workshop will feature remarks from FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson, Commissioner Mark R. Meador and Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Christopher Mufarrige.

In addition, four panel discussions will focus on various aspects of the age assurance issue.

A panel on why age verification matters features Michael Murray, head of regulatory policy for the United Kingdom Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO); Mark Smith, senior privacy and data policy manager for the Center for Information Policy and Leadership (CIPL); Amelia Vance, president of the Public Interest Privacy Center; and Representative Bethany Soye of the South Dakota House of Representatives.

Panels to address age assurance tools and regulations

A survey of age verification tools will engage Iain Corby, executive director of the Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA); Sarah Scheffler, assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s CyLab; Jim Siegl, a senior fellow with the Future of Privacy Forum (FPF); Rick Song, CEO of biometric age assurance provider Persona; and Denise G. Tayloe, CEO of digital security and privacy firm Privo.

Regulatory challenges are also on the agenda, with a specific focus on the interplay between age verification technologies and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Rule.

The regulations panel includes Katherine Haas, director of the Consumer Protection Division for the Utah Department of Commerce; Jennifer Huddleston, senior fellow in technology policy at the CATO Institute; Sara Kloek, VP of education and youth policy for the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA); and Clare Morell, fellow in the Bioethics, Technology and Human Flourishing Program at the Ethics & Public Policy Center (EPPC).

Finally, the question of how to deploy age verification at scale gets an airing, with Yoti CEO Robin Tombs joining a panel that also includes Google’s Child Safety Policy Manager Emily Cashman Kirstein; Meta’s VP and Global Head of Safety Antigone Davis; Graham Dufault, general counsel for ACT | the App Association; Amy Lawrence, chief privacy officer for Epic Games-spawned youth marketing agency SuperAwesome; and Apple’s Director of Federal Government Affairs, Nick Rossi.

The workshop is free and open to the public, and will be webcast at FTC.gov.

Article Topics

age verification  |  biometric age estimation  |  FTC  |  legislation  |  regulation