Frequently Asked Questions

0.1 What is age assurance and why is it needed?u

0.2 Do I always have to upload my ID or scan my face?u

0.3 Is age assurance the same as digital ID?u

0.4 Why are some privacy and civil liberties groups worried about age assurance?u

1.0 What is interoperability, and why is it such a priority for the AV industry?u

1.1 What methods of age verification are available?u

2.0 Can I stay anonymous online after an age check?u

2.1 What data is collected, and what is retained?u

2.2 What about breaches reported recently?u

2.3 Nothing is unhackable. Why should I trust any of this?u

2.4 Will an age check create a record of the websites I visit?u

2.5 Could criminals set up fake age check services to harvest personal data?u

3.0 What is facial age estimation and how does it work?u

3.1 Is facial age estimation the same as facial recognition?u

3.2 Is facial age estimation biometric data processing?u

3.3 How accurate is facial estimation?u

3.4 What about bias? Does it work equally well for everyone?u

3.5 Can teenagers fool it with make-up, filters or AI images?u

4.0 What happens if I am wrongly assessed as underage?u

4.1 What about people without passports, driving licences, bank accounts or stable homes?u

5.0 Do age checks actually work?u

5.1 Didn’t age assurance fail in Australia?u

5.2 Won’t children just use VPNs, borrowed IDs or fake accounts?u

5.3 Is asking for a date of birth, plus the platform’s own signals, enough?u

5.4 Is age inference just behavioural profiling by another name?u

6.0 Does age assurance censor the internet?u

6.1 Could age assurance expand into a general permission system for the internet?u

6.2 Could it harm LGBTQI+ users, vulnerable users or young people seeking help?u

6.3 Don’t children have rights to information and participation online?u

6.4 Isn’t keeping children safe online their parents’ responsibility?u

6.5 Many websites are based abroad. How can these laws be enforced?u

7.0 How are providers tested, audited and certified?u

7.1 What standards apply to age assurance?u

7.2 Why not make app stores or devices do all age checks instead?u

7.3 What should platforms, regulators and legislators require?u

8.0 United Kingdom: What does the law require?u

8.1 United Kingdom: Is it being enforced?u

8.2 United Kingdom: What about age restricted goods, such as alcohol and knives?u

8.3 European Union: What does the law require?u

8.4 European Union: What is the EU age verification app or “mini wallet”?u

8.5 United States: Is age verification constitutional?u

8.6 United States: How widespread are these laws?u

8.7 Australia: What does the law require?u

8.8 Australia: What has happened since it took effect?u

9.0 Who are the AVPA and what do we stand for?u