Age Verification – Legal Obligations for Industries Operating Globally

Age verification has been around for decades to verify the customers. Store clerks, online dating sites, cinemas, and shops with Age Oriented (AO) products were previously using age checks. However, with digitization, minors’ access to every platform and industry has become easier. They simply use their elders’ credentials and documents to onboard AO platforms. 

Therefore, industries should incorporate robust age verification solutions. In this digital era, every industry is offering services and product purchases online which increases the chances of minors’ access. Keeping this in view regulatory bodies are enforcing strict regulations on industries to build an improved and effective identification mechanism. The blog sheds light on the global age verification regulations from global regulatory bodies. 

Global Identity and Age Validation Regulations 

As per Shufti Pro News, minors are getting sophisticated and use advanced methods to trick the age check process and onboard AO platforms. They do this to buy tobacco, liquor, and restricted products on e-commerce. The present age verification checks are not sufficient because minors easily tick checkboxes and solve puzzles. Similarly, for document verification, they provide their elders’. These activities increase their chances of falling prey to either criminal threats such as blackmailing or becoming a part of the terrorist group. 

Therefore, regulatory authorities are revamping strict regulations and fines on industries failing to accurately verify age of customers. Industries with robust age verification solutions in place can overcome these issues. The AI-powered solutions provide industries with an accurate identity verification that not only helps them comply with KYCC but also restricts minors during registration. Global regulatory authorities mandate industries to customers by imposing the following regulations:

Age Validation Regulations in Europe

The European Union issued General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) with its jurisdiction over all the industries operating in member countries. GDPR provides a complete set of age verification regulations and requirements regarding the data collection of customers prior to onboarding. As per these guidelines, the industries should collect the health, biometric, and genetic information of the customers to get their age verified. 

Also, Article 8 of GDPR mandates industries to make sure the customer they are onboarding satisfies the age verification requirements. For instance, the age limit for consuming alcohol is 16 and so is for tobacco.  

Age Validation Regulations in the USA

In the USA, the Federal Trade Commission has issued the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). This age verification law mandates industries to ensure minors’ protection and save them from digital manipulations. COPPA is seen as the most impressive law in the USA and it obligates platforms to collect customers’ information and identify if they are under 13. 

Shufti Pro Funding indicates that industries using online age verification can better comply with these standards. COPPA law further applies to the telecommunication and media industry. 

The Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA) also put forth age verification regulations to restrict content, ads, and other such activities that are not suitable for minors. Similarly, the industries operating online also fall under this act and they should limit minor access to AO websites. Regulatory authorities are forcing strict penalties on the industries failing to comply with the minors’ protection guidelines. In order to restrict minors’ access, industries can either incorporate filters or use age verification online. The AI-driven age verification solutions help industries to verify customers in real-time and onboard the ones who satisfy the requirements.  

Age Validation Regulations in the UK

In order to make the country better and safer for minors, the government of the UK revised changes and made age verification a part of the Digital Economy Act. as per the guidelines, industries should make efforts to build effective processes and restrict minors’ access to AO products as well as services. For this, interactiveAgeCheck (iAC) – the age verification online provider, is responsible to collect the required information. The AI-powered age verification solutions further make the process easier by providing liveness detection and biometric recognition.

Furthermore, the UK’s government issued an Online Safety Bill for online service providers with new regulations. As per the guidelines, industries operating online should prevent advertising content that is harmful to minors. According to NYTimes, there were over 90 million fake Facebook accounts highlighted in 2020. Therefore, industries both operating online and physically need to incorporate accurate and robust age verification solutions. This is to make sure minors don’t bypass the age checks and fall prey to fake identities on online platforms. 

In the End

To wrap up, age verification is increasingly becoming a need for industries due to rapid digitization. The transformations have made it easier for minors to access AO platforms. Therefore, regulatory authorities are enforcing strict regulations on industries to verify customers prior to onboarding and restrict minors. AI-powered age verification solutions enable industries to fulfil their corporate social responsibility and identify minors in real-time. The process is seamless and involves less time which makes it more reliable.