Publications
US State Age Verification Compliance Calendar
With some 144 bills in across 43 US States introduced in 2023 which specifically attempt to protect children from various harms on the Internet, keeping track of what is required where is already a huge challenge for many online services. Even where Bills are copied...
Texas will require Age Verification for Pornography from September 2023
The Texas state legislature has now passed House Bill No. 1181 “relating to restricting access to sexual material harmful to minors”. The Bill requires that a commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally publishes or distributes such material on a website,...
Age Verification Providers already enable compliance with the US ‘‘Protecting Kids on Social Media Act’’
As a wave of new laws requiring social media companies to verify the age of children continue to pass, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii and his bi-partisan colleagues Senators Tom Cotton, Chris Murphy, and Katie Britt have introduced a Federal version, the...
Louisiana Age Verification requirements
In Louisiana, it is clear that the “LA Wallet” app is not the only method of proving age to comply with Act No. 440. Adult publishers should carefully consider this app and the range of alternative methods of age verification before relying on it to provide a robust...
A response to the Electronic Frontier Foundation
Jason Kelley and Adam Schwarz of the Electronic Frontier Foundation recently published an article arguing that "Age Verification Mandates Would Undermine Anonymity Online." We must start by thanking them for this contribution to a debate that will only grow in...
Design Age Assurance for Accessibility and Inclusivity
Mark Roberts, our California-based Chief Technical Strategist, considers concerns about how to ensure age assurance is accessible and inclusive. One of the concerns raised frequently in the debate about age assurance is that it...
ONLINE SAFETY BILL AND PORNOGRAPHY THE CASE FOR A REVISED PART 5
We have provided technical input to support a number of charities and campaign groups seeking to amend the Online Safety Bill to extend the scope of its provisions around pornograpphy and ensure these come into force as quickly as possible. [embeddoc...
Age verification providers welcome positive Home Office conclusions
For immediate release Age verification providers welcome positive Home Office conclusions following trials of age estimation and digital proof of age in shops and bars across the UK. London, 30 December 2022 – The Home Office today published its conclusions following...
The AVPA’s agenda for 2023
2023 marks the centenary of age verification. It was in 1923 that the first female Member of Parliament in the UK, Nancy Astor, passed a Private Members Bill, the “Intoxicating Liquor (Sale to Persons under Eighteen) Act” making 18 the legal age to buy alcohol. As...
Kids Online Safety Act – Age Verification
A number of human rights and LGBTQ+ organizations wrote to members of the US Congress last week opposing a kids’ online safety bill (KOSA) they argue would not actually help make the Internet a better place for children and teens. We wanted to respond to their...