Age verification – protection or paternalism?

Have you recently thought about how online habits influence your life, society or child? You are not alone.

Concerns have been amplified by popular books (like The anxious generation, Careless people, Offline) and TV series (like Adolescence, Avlogga), resulting in digital detox initiatives and... regulation.

Indeed, policymakers have responded to concerns by requiring age verification for certain services, aiming to reduce harm to children. This article explores the why, where and how of age verification.

Why? The growing need for age verification

Historically, age verification was introduced to protect children from unsuitable content or services like pornography, gambling or online sales of alcohol.

While social media offers opportunities for connection and self-expression, harmful effects to mental health, misinformation and exposure to inappropriate content (violence or self-harm) have resulted in these apps being added to the list.

Finally, buy now, pay later and in-game purchases are also expected to be more strictly regulated to protect children against large debts or problematic spending behavior.

Where? Countries currently adopting age verification

Early adopters of obligatory age verification are France (April 2025), the UK (July 2025), Italy (October 2025), and Australia (December 2025).

Other European countries will likely follow, supported by adoption of the Digital Services Act (DSA) which requires online platforms to take proportionate measures to protect minors.

In the US several states have passed or prepare laws to enforce age verification, some currently being challenged via lawsuits.

How? Technology's role in enforcing age verification

New regulation requires service providers to prove the effectiveness of their age verification methods and ensure these methods are proportionate to the risks their services pose to children (proportionality). Classic age verification via "self-declaration" (simply asking users to confirm their age) will therefore no longer suffice for certain services, as it can be easily bypassed.

Signicat can help with these effective age verification methods:

• Use of electronic identities (eIDs), of which more than 35 can be accessed via Signicat's comprehensive eID hub. eIDs can share the user's age in different forms: as birth date/year or as age group indicator (e.g. "over 18: true/false"). The introduction of EU digital identity wallets will likely position eIDs as the dominant age verification solution in Europe.
• Alternatively, ID document & biometric verification can be used to extract age from a governmental ID, or determine age via an automated facial analysis.

Alternative methods exist, but come with downsides:

• Payment-based checks, which can be inconsistent because the age for having a card or bank account varies per country.
• Vouching by other users, which transfers the "trust problem" to these other users.
   

Signicat can help

Each of the above methods comes with its own challenges in terms of user experience and level of assurance. Ensuring proportionality can be challenging.

Signicat helps businesses navigate these complexities by offering a broad portfolio of verification solutions —from eIDs and ID document scanning to biometric checks— through a single integration. Our experts can advise on the most appropriate and effective approach for your service, ensuring compliance without compromising usability.

Protection or paternalism?

The conversation about proportionality continues as technology and regulations evolve.

While critics argue that age verification can create privacy issues, hinder user experience and provide limited effectiveness, new technological advancements emerge to mitigate concerns, like selective disclosure and zero-knowledge proofs.

Regulation evolves as well: next to age verification, new regulation may target addictive features targeting minors (such as infinite scrolling and auto play) while giving users more control over algorithms that select their content, with notable regulatory examples being the Digital Fairness Act in the EU and the SAFE for Kids Act in the US.

It seems that most parents view the push for age verification as a justified response to real risks. Regardless, it will be a first step of a journey where we will learn how to carefully balance privacy, safety and proportionality.

About the author

Thomas Osinga is the Tribe Lead for Orchestration & Data Verification at Signicat. He oversees teams focused on developing cutting-edge products for remote customer onboarding and identity verification. He is leading expert in the field of Identity verification, digital trust and KYC/AML compliance and is often found sharing his insights at industry events and conferences across Europe.