Age verification: Difference between revisions

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'''[[wikipedia:Age_verification|Age Verification]]''' (AV), also referred to as '''Age Affirmation''' (AA) and '''Age gating''', is the process in where a business requires some form of identification to verify your age. This is usually done for more explicit or mature content. This practice has been widely spreading since the [[UK Online Safety Act|UK's Online Safety Act (OSA)]] has passed; requiring all individuals to verify themselves before accessing mature content. Ways of checking age include, but are not limited to: checking for a valid credit card, facial age estimation tools, government-issued ID, biometric data, account history behavior, and more.

'''[[wikipedia:Age_verification|Age Verification]]''' (AV), also referred to as '''Age Affirmation''' (AA) and '''Age gating''', is the process in where a business requires some form of identification to verify your age, a mass surveillance measure disguised as child safety to de-anonymize the internet. This is usually done for more explicit, mature content or social media. This practice has been widely spreading since the [[UK Online Safety Act|UK's Online Safety Act (OSA)]] has passed; requiring all individuals to verify themselves before accessing mature content. Ways of checking age include, but are not limited to: checking for a valid credit card, facial age estimation tools, government-issued ID, biometric data, account history behavior, and more.

As of December 2025, 25 US States require websites with mature content to verify age.<ref>{{Cite web |title=State Age Verification Laws - Action Center |url=https://action.freespeechcoalition.com/age-verification-resources/state-avs-laws/ |url-status=live |access-date=2025-12-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251228121257/https://action.freespeechcoalition.com/age-verification-resources/state-avs-laws/ |archive-date=2025-12-28 }}</ref>

Open-source intelligence (OSINT) reveals Meta Platforms spent $26.3 million on federal lobbying and funded a "grassroot" Digital Childhood Alliance group, with $0 to child safety<ref>{{Cite web |last=upper-up |date=2026-03-24 |title=Meta Platforms: Lobbying, Dark Money, and the App Store Accountability Act |url=https://github.com/upper-up/meta-lobbying-and-other-findings |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260413033424/https://github.com/upper-up/meta-lobbying-and-other-findings |archive-date=2026-04-13 |access-date=2026-05-02 |website=[[Github]]}}</ref>.

==How it works==

===Online Platform Age Verification===

When accessing a platform or website that may contain content not suitable for all audiences may force you to register for the platform along with verifying your age by one of the methods mentioned previously. Sites that likely don't use any form of account system will probably have a popup instead requiring you to verify your age before even serving the content you were trying to access.

===Operating System Age Verification===

New legislation now mandates [[wikipedia:Operating_system|operating systems (OS)]] to block the user until they verify their age. This is done "for convenience" so that apps and websites don't individually prompt the user, instead those apps/websites can just query the platform (e.g. OS, web-browser, etc...) without the user noticing.

==Why is this a problem?==

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===Customer Profiling===

Having companies easily able to identify you means they can track you more efficiently and sell that shared profile to other companies such as ad agencies that then start targeting you specifically.

Having companies easily able to identify you means they can track you more efficiently and sell that shared profile to other companies such as ad agencies that then start targeting you specifically. Age data stored in a computer's operating system is another data being used for device fingerprinting<ref>{{Cite web |last=Costa |first=C. da |date=2026-03-16 |title=Reddit User Uncovers Who Is Behind Meta’s $2B Lobbying for Invasive Age Verification Tech |url=https://www.gadgetreview.com/reddit-user-uncovers-who-is-behind-metas-2b-lobbying-for-invasive-age-verification-tech |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260415225107/https://www.gadgetreview.com/reddit-user-uncovers-who-is-behind-metas-2b-lobbying-for-invasive-age-verification-tech |archive-date=2026-04-15 |access-date=2026-05-01 |website=Gadget Review}}</ref>.

===Government overreach===

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===Inaccuracy===

Researches about age verification software that estimates age via face scans are inaccurate, identifying children as adults or vice versa. These inaccurate estimations might lead to have to use more privacy-invasive methods like submitting a picture of a personal ID. {{Citation needed}}

===Questioned effectiveness===

Recent studies evidenced practices done by the Online Safety Act legislation are poorly effective as many users managed to reach to VPNs and bypasses in order to protect their privacy online {{Citation needed}}. Children might use their parents' IDs or credit cards to circumvent the systems and have access to mature content. {{Citation needed}}

===Limitation of control over owned devices===

Age verification methods that are done at the operating system level, such as how it is done on [[Apple introduces OS-level age verification|iOS]] in some regions, prevent the device owner, even if they're an adult, to freely use their device unless they send sensitive data online. This also prevents parents from configuring their children's devices to their liking or to create different profiles in case a device is used by multiple people.{{Citation needed}}

===Threat to Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)===

Age verification, especially identity verification, are fundamentally incompatible with the four essential freedoms of [[Free software movement|free software]]. Legislation that mandates nationwide operating system age verification could outlaw GNU/Linux, consolidating monopolistic power to proprietary operating systems<ref>{{Cite web |last=Trevino |first=Sam |date=2026-03-06 |title=Age Assurance Laws and the End of General Purpose Computing |url=https://samtrevino.substack.com/p/age-assurance-laws-and-the-end-of |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.org/details/age-assurance-laws-and-the-end-of-general-purpose-computing-report |archive-date=2026-03-11 |access-date=2026-05-01}}</ref>.

==Methods==

There are various methods used to verify and check the age of an user, being these the most common ones:

*'''Age attestation''': Consists of establishing the user's birthdate on their account or profile.

*'''ID check''': The most privacy-invasive method and the riskiest of all. It consists of sending a picture of a government-issued ID, a passport or a drivers licence.

*'''Live selfie''': It consists of a live recording of the user's face. It has been questioned for its effectiveness and accuracy.

*'''Credit card check''': Less privacy-invasive than an ID check or a live selfie, but very problematic because of potential card theft if a data leak occurs.

*'''Behavior prediction''': Used by some social media to estimate the user's age by its behavior on the platform using algorithms.

==Examples==

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*[https://github.com/BryanLunduke/DoesItAgeVerify GitHub BryanLunduke - List Tracking Operating Systems Not Implementing Age Verification]

*[https://www.eff.org/pages/age-verification-bills-are-unconstitutional EFF explains how OS-level age-verification is unconstitutional]

*[https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/8250/all-info All Information (Except Text) for H.R.8250 - Parents Decide Act]

*[https://csa-scientist-open-letter.org/ageverif-Feb2026| Joint statement of scientists and researchers on Age Assurance - Open letter signed by academics, warning about age verification risks]

==See also==

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 {{See also|Forced identification|De-anonymization}}
-'''[[wikipedia:Age_verification|Age Verification]]''' (AV), also referred to as '''Age Affirmation''' (AA) and '''Age gating''', is the process in where a business requires some form of identification to verify your age. This is usually done for more explicit or mature content. This practice has been widely spreading since the [[UK Online Safety Act|UK's Online Safety Act (OSA)]] has passed; requiring all individuals to verify themselves before accessing mature content. Ways of checking age include, but are not limited to: checking for a valid credit card, facial age estimation tools, government-issued ID, biometric data, account history behavior, and more.
+'''[[wikipedia:Age_verification|Age Verification]]''' (AV), also referred to as '''Age Affirmation''' (AA) and '''Age gating''', is the process in where a business requires some form of identification to verify your age, a mass surveillance measure disguised as child safety to de-anonymize the internet. This is usually done for more explicit, mature content or social media. This practice has been widely spreading since the [[UK Online Safety Act|UK's Online Safety Act (OSA)]] has passed; requiring all individuals to verify themselves before accessing mature content. Ways of checking age include, but are not limited to: checking for a valid credit card, facial age estimation tools, government-issued ID, biometric data, account history behavior, and more.
 As of December 2025, 25 US States require websites with mature content to verify age.<ref>{{Cite web |title=State Age Verification Laws - Action Center |url=https://action.freespeechcoalition.com/age-verification-resources/state-avs-laws/ |url-status=live |access-date=2025-12-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251228121257/https://action.freespeechcoalition.com/age-verification-resources/state-avs-laws/ |archive-date=2025-12-28 }}</ref>
+Open-source intelligence (OSINT) reveals Meta Platforms spent $26.3 million on federal lobbying and funded a "grassroot" Digital Childhood Alliance group, with $0 to child safety<ref>{{Cite web |last=upper-up |date=2026-03-24 |title=Meta Platforms: Lobbying, Dark Money, and the App Store Accountability Act |url=https://github.com/upper-up/meta-lobbying-and-other-findings |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260413033424/https://github.com/upper-up/meta-lobbying-and-other-findings |archive-date=2026-04-13 |access-date=2026-05-02 |website=[[Github]]}}</ref>.
 ==How it works==
+===Online Platform Age Verification===
 When accessing a platform or website that may contain content not suitable for all audiences may force you to register for the platform along with verifying your age by one of the methods mentioned previously. Sites that likely don't use any form of account system will probably have a popup instead requiring you to verify your age before even serving the content you were trying to access.
+===Operating System Age Verification===
 New legislation now mandates [[wikipedia:Operating_system|operating systems (OS)]] to block the user until they verify their age. This is done "for convenience" so that apps and websites don't individually prompt the user, instead those apps/websites can just query the platform (e.g. OS, web-browser, etc...) without the user noticing.
 ==Why is this a problem?==
@@ Line 30: / Line 36: @@
 ===Customer Profiling===
-Having companies easily able to identify you means they can track you more efficiently and sell that shared profile to other companies such as ad agencies that then start targeting you specifically.
+Having companies easily able to identify you means they can track you more efficiently and sell that shared profile to other companies such as ad agencies that then start targeting you specifically. Age data stored in a computer's operating system is another data being used for device fingerprinting<ref>{{Cite web |last=Costa |first=C. da |date=2026-03-16 |title=Reddit User Uncovers Who Is Behind Meta’s $2B Lobbying for Invasive Age Verification Tech |url=https://www.gadgetreview.com/reddit-user-uncovers-who-is-behind-metas-2b-lobbying-for-invasive-age-verification-tech |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260415225107/https://www.gadgetreview.com/reddit-user-uncovers-who-is-behind-metas-2b-lobbying-for-invasive-age-verification-tech |archive-date=2026-04-15 |access-date=2026-05-01 |website=Gadget Review}}</ref>.
 ===Government overreach===
@@ Line 58: / Line 64: @@
 ===Inaccuracy===
 Researches about age verification software that estimates age via face scans are inaccurate, identifying children as adults or vice versa. These inaccurate estimations might lead to have to use more privacy-invasive methods like submitting a picture of a personal ID. {{Citation needed}}
+===Questioned effectiveness===
+Recent studies evidenced practices done by the Online Safety Act legislation are poorly effective as many users managed to reach to VPNs and bypasses in order to protect their privacy online {{Citation needed}}. Children might use their parents' IDs or credit cards to circumvent the systems and have access to mature content. {{Citation needed}}
+===Limitation of control over owned devices===
+Age verification methods that are done at the operating system level, such as how it is done on [[Apple introduces OS-level age verification|iOS]] in some regions, prevent the device owner, even if they're an adult, to freely use their device unless they send sensitive data online. This also prevents parents from configuring their children's devices to their liking or to create different profiles in case a device is used by multiple people.{{Citation needed}}
+===Threat to Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)===
+Age verification, especially identity verification, are fundamentally incompatible with the four essential freedoms of [[Free software movement|free software]]. Legislation that mandates nationwide operating system age verification could outlaw GNU/Linux, consolidating monopolistic power to proprietary operating systems<ref>{{Cite web |last=Trevino |first=Sam |date=2026-03-06 |title=Age Assurance Laws and the End of General Purpose Computing |url=https://samtrevino.substack.com/p/age-assurance-laws-and-the-end-of |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.org/details/age-assurance-laws-and-the-end-of-general-purpose-computing-report |archive-date=2026-03-11 |access-date=2026-05-01}}</ref>.
+==Methods==
+There are various methods used to verify and check the age of an user, being these the most common ones:
+*'''Age attestation''': Consists of establishing the user's birthdate on their account or profile.
+*'''ID check''': The most privacy-invasive method and the riskiest of all. It consists of sending a picture of a government-issued ID, a passport or a drivers licence.
+*'''Live selfie''': It consists of a live recording of the user's face. It has been questioned for its effectiveness and accuracy.
+*'''Credit card check''': Less privacy-invasive than an ID check or a live selfie, but very problematic because of potential card theft if a data leak occurs.
+*'''Behavior prediction''': Used by some social media to estimate the user's age by its behavior on the platform using algorithms.
 ==Examples==
@@ Line 73: / Line 98: @@
 *[https://github.com/BryanLunduke/DoesItAgeVerify GitHub BryanLunduke - List Tracking Operating Systems Not Implementing Age Verification]
 *[https://www.eff.org/pages/age-verification-bills-are-unconstitutional EFF explains how OS-level age-verification is unconstitutional]
+*[https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/8250/all-info All Information (Except Text) for H.R.8250 - Parents Decide Act]
+*[https://csa-scientist-open-letter.org/ageverif-Feb2026| Joint statement of scientists and researchers on Age Assurance - Open letter signed by academics, warning about age verification risks]
 ==See also==