Biometric age assurance market gears up for rapid expansion as rules clarify

Biometric age assurance was turned up to 11 this week, as in 11 different Biometric Update articles on efforts to keep children off of certain types of apps and websites. Among the highlights; the impact of VPNs appears to be less than thought, law are advancing from Bulgaria to Missouri, Jumio has a contract and Tik Tok is facing an investigation.

Even in a week that included a surprise merger announcement by Veridas and Fourthline and a $163 million contract win for Socure and a partner, steps towards universal digital ID issuance and cross-border interoperability, the sheer volume of signs of an emerging market taking off stands out.

VPNo problem

Early evidence from the UK shows that nearly 40 percent of children have gotten around age checks directly, mostly because they were ineffective checks, while only a quarter have used a VPN. And Australia is finding potential compliance problems all over the place, yet account ownership by children is down 18 percent, parents think.

Platforms can also detect VPN use, so the UK government says in its decision not to restrict VPN use that the onus is on them to play by the rules.

Laws, enforcement advance

A special panel of the European Commission recommends age verification or age estimation for social media, but also greater cooperation between regulators to ensure they comply with fundamental rights requirements. The EC has survey data suggesting the public also supports stronger age restrictions for social media. Legislation is already on the table in EU Member State Bulgaria. An MP with the main opposition party proposed the bill, which refers to the potential use of EUDI Wallets and a national implementation of the accompanying age verification app.

Across the English Channel, the UK has its legal foundation in place, and is ready to take on the social media in the role of dragon-slaying popular hero. Platforms have three months to implement highly-effective age assurance, as the regulator turns to enforcement.

Meanwhile, Ofcom is looking into whether Tik Tok’s “age inference” system meets the “highly effective” threshold, or even the definition of age assurance rather than “profiling.” As with Meta, the scale of the platform makes effective enforcement, if it is deemed necessary, a tall order.

Gambling is a fast-growing market for biometric age assurance, and Boyle Sports is covered now that Jumio is providing age and identity verification for customers in the UK and Ireland.

The United States could be the next big market for facial age estimation, with a bipartisan proposal in the House to require biometric age assurance during user authentication. The idea is to prevent youths from using accounts belonging to people who passed conventional identity checks during onboarding, and thus a potential expansion of requirements.

The debate around age assurance in the U.S. so far has resembled others in biometrics in that reaction has sometimes run ahead of education. The International Biometrics + Identity Association (IBIA) aims to help get the industry’s message out more effectively with a newly redesigned website.

Missouri’s age assurance law has taken effect, and a leading pornography platform that often blocks access from states with such rules is operating with age verification in place. The law prohibits the storage of identifying data by third parties, and Netchoice has turned its attention in the state to an AI bill. A U.S. Senator is pushing for regulation at the federal level of how children interact with AI as well.

Work on the international age assurance standard has reached the publication of a draft for analysis and comparison of systems. ISO/IEC 27566 Part 3 is in review by ISO members, and will eventually provide a basis for testing and conformity assessments.

And finally, in this week’s episode of the Biometric Update Podcast, we go deep on age assurance regulation – what’s happening where, what it means for organizations and individuals, and how changing laws are reflecting a bigger shift in public trust and the online ecosystem.

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Article Topics

age verification  |  biometrics  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  week in review