Age verification is the process of predicting or confirming a person’s age online. Increasingly we hear from governments and technology companies that age verification is a tool we should use to ensure the safety of children online.
For example, in the EU, the draft regulation establishing rules to prevent and combat child sexual abuse (CSAR) proposes to enforce age verification forms for private messaging services (e.g. WhatsApp, Signal) and app stores operating in the EU, as well as to provide strong incentives to use this tool on all other digital platforms and services, such as social media.
The European Digital Rights network, including Homo Digitalis, has prepared a relevant study with a rich analysis of more than 30 pages, freely available here.
It is important to ensure that our children have access to age-appropriate online content. However, quick technological ‘fixes’ such as age verification online will not make a difference or really solve the complex problems we face. On the contrary, the adoption of age verification systems can have serious human rights implications, especially for the children they are intended to protect.