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AV (Age Verification) also referred to as AA (Age Affirmation) 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's OSA (Online Safety Act) has passed; requiring all individuals to verify themselves before accessing mature content. Certain ways of checking can include: checking for a valid credit card, facial age estimation tools, government issued id, bio-metric data, or account history behavior and so forth.
How it works
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.
Why it is a problem
Privacy
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.
Governments can also more easily track online movements and find out who you are. Saying something that may go against their own agenda may end up with a police raid and heavy interrogation and prison time.
Censorship
Certain topics such as 18+ or political will likely be unfairly censored by the governing body or company that has a say on what platform has the potential to be inappropriate for minors or other age groups.
Platforms that host this type of content may also be more proactive in deleting/hiding posts that may get them in trouble or fined by laws or policies by local governments leading to a more censored internet where opinions are streamlined to fit a set narrative or outlook.
Examples
- YouTube's Age verification and account estimation algorithm.
- Spotify's Age affirmation for MA rated songs and content.
- Discord's Age verification for accounts determining what eligible servers are available.