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, a mass surveillance measure disguised as child safety to de-anonymize the internet. 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>

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=== 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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===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}}

===Anti-ownership practices and limitation of control over the device===

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 prevent parents to configure their children 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<ref>{{Cite web |date=2026-01-28 |title=What is Free Software? |url=https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260426185514/https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html |archive-date=2026-04-26 |access-date=2026-05-01 |website=GNU Operating System}}</ref>. 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, but these are the most common:

*'''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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 {{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, a mass surveillance measure disguised as child safety to de-anonymize the internet. 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>
@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 === 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 63: / Line 65: @@
 ===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}}
+===Anti-ownership practices and limitation of control over the device===
+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 prevent parents to configure their children 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<ref>{{Cite web |date=2026-01-28 |title=What is Free Software? |url=https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260426185514/https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html |archive-date=2026-04-26 |access-date=2026-05-01 |website=GNU Operating System}}</ref>. 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, but these are the most common:
+*'''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==