Publications
Reflections on the Australian Trial’s Interim Report
On the face of it, the publication of preliminary findings by the Age Assurance Technology Trial, commissioned by the Australian Government, was good news for the Age Verification industry. The headline conclusion, that “age assurance can be done” in the Australian...
US State Law comparisons for adult content 2024
In light of the numerous new laws passed in the USA recently, we've updated our comparison chart. As of June 2024, there have been 21 new laws, detailed below in alphabetical order, in three tables. 1. Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana and Kansas 2....
Age Assurance – but what about the kids?
Confirming the age of children under the age of 18 is becoming an increasingly important requirement around the world in Australia, the UK, the EU and many US states, particularly for restricting younger children’s access to social media. Given children are...
Is the EU Digital Identity Wallet the solution for age assurance?
With the news that the Digital Identity Regulation entered into force on 20th May 2024, all Citizens and Residents can now look forward to being offered at least one EU Digital Identity Wallet by their Member State by 2026. Given how often age verification has been...
AVPA gives evidence to California state assembly committee hearing
We were privileged to give evidence to the California Assembly's Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee, when it considered Assembly Bill 3080, sponsored by Assemblymember Juan Alanis. The Bill will require age verification for adult websites. We began with a...
USA – why Bills targeting obscene content will survive constitutional challenges
While one federal judge decided that the age assurance requirements of the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (CA AADC) may be unconstitutional, the majority of more senior judges, sitting at the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, reached the opposite...
AVPA responds to UK Home Office consultation on digital age verification
The AVPA has submitted its response to the UK Home Office consultation on the use of digital methods of age assurance for the purposes of the sale of alcohol. The UK leads the world in digital age assurance technology. A change to the law to permit certified forms of...
Privacy; a foundational concept for age verification
Perhaps the most frequent concern raised about age verification is a risk to privacy. But the essence of age assurance is the ability to prove your age online WITHOUT disclosing your identity. Our industry would not exist were there not the absolute need to preserve...
Response to the Free Speech Coalition submission to Ofcom
We were pleased to see the response from the Free Speech Coalition to Ofcom's consultation on Part 5 of the Online Safety Act as it gives us the opportunity to clarify some potential misunderstandings and provide some reassurance, particularly to the many smaller...
AVPA responds to Ofcom consultation on Pornographic websites
The AVPA has responded to the consultation by Ofcom on how it intends to regulate pornographic websites under Part 5 of the Online Safety Act. We were broadly supportive of their approach, but there is one major ommission - the definition of "highly effective age...
Virtual Private Networks
We often hear the argument that age verification is pointless because "Kids will just use VPNs". That's not a valid argument, given how the relevant laws are drafted, and indeed, may lead adult sites into a false sense of security if they think the use of a VPN...