Age verification is key to online safety and maintaining regulatory compliance. Without effective age verification systems in place, underage users are at higher risk of exposure to harmful or inappropriate content.
With this in mind, governments and regulatory bodies around the globe are tightening age verification laws in the pursuit of safer online environments. And while these online safety regulations often share several commonalities, there are also a number of key differences that set them apart, creating compliance challenges for businesses operating across borders.
Why age verification regulations matter
In short, age verification tools are used to confirm that customers and users meet the minimum age requirements to access age-restricted services, products or content.
Children and teenagers today have unparalleled access to the internet, leaving them exposed to a number of cyber risks, including harmful content and age-restricted products and services. It’s for this reason that age verification laws are in place to protect minors against the risk of accessing unsafe or inappropriate content. As technology continues to develop at an increasing rate, governments and regulators have recognised emerging risks to minors, implementing a raft of digital identity laws across the globe to combat these digital dangers.
Businesses offering age-restricted goods, services and content to users online must ensure compliance with regulations to avoid hefty fines, penalties and reputational damage. But when operating internationally, these businesses often face the challenge of complying with various age verification laws across different regions.
Key age verification regulations across different regions
While there’s no global standard for age verification legislation, there are several key age verification regulations that are setting the standard for other countries and jurisdictions.
United States – COPPA, KYC and State-Specific Laws
In the United States, age verification is governed by federal and state-based legislation. At a federal level, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) requires websites and online services to obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information from children under 13. Businesses must implement strict age verification measures to comply with the COPPA.
In industries like financial services and online gambling, businesses must incorporate robust Know Your Customer (KYC) processes into their customer onboarding process, which often include age verification to prevent underage access to services.
In addition to the COPPA and federal KYC requirements, many states also have their own age verification requirements, especially when it comes to age-restricted products such as alcohol, cannabis and online gambling. For example, California's Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) extends its protections to minors.
European Union – GDPR and age-appropriate design code
Introduced in May 2018, the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) enforces strict rules on collecting and processing children's data. Under the GDPR, businesses must verify each user’s age and obtain parental consent for children under 16 (or as low as 13 in some member states).
Built upon the fundamental principles of the GDPR, the UK’s Age-Appropriate Design Code, or Children’s Code for short, mandates that online services likely to be accessed by children incorporate robust age verification to provide appropriate data protections for minors.
Asia-Pacific – Emerging Age Verification Standards
Across the Asia Pacific region, many different countries are quickly adopting age verification laws, particularly across the digital content and e-commerce sectors.
Australia’s Online Safety Act includes measures for age verification, particularly for adult content and social media platforms. More recently, the Australian Government passed world-first legislation banning minors under 16 from accessing specific social media platforms.
China has some of the strictest age restrictions when it comes to online gaming, livestreaming platforms, video-sharing sites and social media. These restrictions have undergone several amendments over recent years, with under 18s strictly limited to how long they can spend on these sites.
Similarly, Japan and South Korea have their own regulations for age verification in online gaming and social media, with a strong focus on protecting minors.
Compliance strategies for businesses
While navigating through age verification requirements and online safety regulations can be a challenging task, maintaining compliance with these laws could be the difference between the success or failure of your business. This task is made even more complex when you factor in constantly evolving regulations across different regions. With this in mind, here are some best practices for ensuring compliance with age verification regulations.
Implement robust age verification methods
To enhance age verification for age-restricted services, businesses should implement multi-factor authentication (MFA), which combines government-issued ID checks with biometric verification or credit card validation. Additionally, adopting AI-driven age estimation tools can help verify users' ages accurately while minimising excessive data collection, ensuring both compliance and user privacy.
Align with regional regulations
Businesses must ensure compliance with key regulations such as COPPA (US), GDPR (EU), AADC (UK), as well as local digital identity laws, by implementing age-appropriate privacy settings. It's also crucial to regularly update compliance policies to align with evolving legal requirements in these markets, ensuring ongoing adherence to the latest standards and regulations.
Incorporate privacy by design
To protect children's privacy, businesses should minimise data collection and ensure that any collected information is stored securely. Additionally, implementing default high-privacy settings for younger users is essential, such as disabling location tracking and restricting data sharing, to safeguard their personal information and enhance security.
Conduct regular compliance audits
Lastly, performing internal and third-party audits is key to maintaining compliance with age verification laws. Be sure to keep detailed records of verification checks and updates to security measures.
The future of global age verification laws
As the online space continues to evolve, so too do the opportunities for fraud and concerns around digital safety. It only makes sense that governments and regulators across the globe will continue tightening online safety laws to protect minors.
The key to staying ahead of these evolving age verification laws lies in adopting AI-powered age verification tools that allow for real-time age estimation and continual behavioural analysis. These digital tools can be easily integrated into existing onboarding systems, allowing for seamless and fraud-resistant verification.
Compliance with global age verification regulations is critical to the success of your business. Without the right knowledge, it can be near impossible to navigate numerous conflicting age verification regulations across different countries. It’s for this reason that partnering with Data Zoo is the smart choice to streamline your age verification process while ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and meeting user experience expectations.
At Data Zoo, we make it our mission to simplify the process of meeting regulatory standards, preventing identity fraud and offering a smooth user experience. With our extensive global data portfolio, dedication to built-in compliance and privacy and effortless integration options, businesses can confidently offer age-restricted products and services.