Publications
AVPA on BBC Radio 4 World at One
We spoke to BBC Radio 4 World at One about the latest changes to the Online Safety Bill. We explained how age verification and age estimation can be used to apply age checks in proportion to the level of risk. And we warned how disappointed parents will be if they...
Answering Fraser Nelson’s questions
Fraser Nelson, Editor of The Spectator, has quite reasonably raised a list of questions he still has about the impact on free speech of the Online Safety Bill in this article: “The Online Safety Bill is still a censor’s charter“. As many of these refer to age...
The French data protection regulator’s views on age verification
The French data protection authority (DPA) is the Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (CNIL). This translates literally as the “National Commission for Computing and Liberties” and this perhaps provides some insight into their natural instincts...
Press Release: Age Verification providers warn ICO to learn lessons from their French and German counterparts when trying to regulate the porn industry
PRESS RELEASE Age Verification providers warn ICO to learn lessons from their French and German counterparts when trying to regulate the porn industry London, 2 September – The trade body representing leading suppliers of technology to anonymously verify the age of...
How do you regulate a foreign porn site?
How do you regulate a foreign porn site? It may be the world-wide web, but governments are still generally national not international (the EU being the exception which proves that rule), so how can any one state hope to regulate the global Internet? Well, it is not...
How good are remote checks of identity documents?
There has been some controversy in Germany after a recent series of tweets demonstrated that it may be possible to tamper with real government-issed ID documents, and fool online identity checks First of all, many AV providers do not rely solely this technology...
EDPB/EDPS Joint Opinion on AV (Re CSAM prevention) Further thoughts…
We have been reflecting further on the recent Joint Opinion by the European Data Protection Board and their Supervisor. It is important to put these comments in their proper context. This is an opinion on a very specific issue (i.e. the European Commission’s proposals...
AVPA response to the EDPB-EDPS Joint Opinion on rules to prevent child sexual abuse
The European Data Protection Board, a collective body of EU, EFTA and EEA data protection authorities, and the European Data Protection Supervisor have published a jointy opinion on the latest proposed rules to prevent child sexual abuse being considered by the...
A 7 minute summary of the state of the art in Age Assurance
Speaking to the Privacy Laws and Business Conference at St John's College, Cambridge University last month, the AVPA's Executive Director updated delegates on the latest situaton in the rapidly evolving age assurance sector: VIDEO [video width="1920" height="888"...
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Enforcement at scale – amending the Online Safety Bill for a level playing field
We were pleased to see amendments debated by the Public Bill Committee designed to allow Ofcom to go to court and apply for blocking orders against multiple websites at the same time. As currently drafted, the legislation suggests Ofcom would need to make a separate...
Doorsteps – the weakest link in AV
On a recent day out with my 11 year-old godson, both his father and I were surprised when he contributed to a conversation we were having about the risks of delivery services letting children get hold of age-restricted goods. "It's easy," he announced. "You can just...
Press release: Proof of Age Standards Scheme (PASS) launches search for UK-wide smartphone solution.
London, UK. May 27 2022 – The Proof of Age Standards Scheme, working in partnership with the age verification industry, has issued a call for a proposal for new technology to allow people to prove their age using just their smartphone. The PASS Scheme currently...
euCONSENT and the Better Internet For Kids+ Strategy
The Euroepan Commission has published an update to their approach to making the internet a safer place for children across Europe, the Better Internet For Kids+ (BIK+) Strategy. We were delighted to see a commitment to build on the work of euCONSENT - the AVPA is a...
Proof of Age Standards Scheme – Call for a Proposal, questions and answers
We have issued, in collaboration with the Proof of Age Standards Scheme, a call for a proposal to find a solution that will enable interoperability across digital proofs of age provided by multiple approved issuers. For universal acceptance, a single validation...