Effective Age Verification Techniques- lessons to be learnt from the online gambling industry
Programme of research conducted by Oxford Internet Institute, Victoria Nash, Rachel O’Connell, Bendert Zevenbergen, Allison Mishkin
This cross-national research project focuses on the operation and efficacy of age verification techniques as employed by the European online gambling industry, comparing this to practice in other industry sectors.
Executive summary
- Age verification has come a long way since the Internet Safety Technical Taskforce Report of 2008: age verification is no longer just about child protection, it’s about good business practice online.
- Recent advances in identity authentication and assurance mean that public authorities bear a renewed interest in the possibility of improving protection for minors through use of technological measures to verify age.
- This is a rapidly developing area: innovations are emerging from both the private and public sector, with developments in both attribute exchange ecosystems, and state-led e-ID schemes. Both online industry sectors and policy-makers should be monitoring innovations,and scoping for new business opportunities not just thinking about compliance.
- There is a clear role for more cooperation between sectors, with even interviewees from the European Commission asking how the online retail sector could more effectively leverage age verification measures.
- If the potential benefits of age verification are to be maximised, it’s vital that trust is not destroyed through lapses in data protection or requests for more information than is strictly necessary: the implementation of trust frameworks is foundational.
- Children should not be age-gated at every step: the recommendations here are intended to strengthen existing regulatory frameworks limiting access to age-restricted goods, rather than to create new barriers as there is great value in free exploration of the Internet.
- Insofar as age verification is one possible technical measure which can help prevent illegal access to age-restricted goods or services, it is still not a perfect solution for what is ultimately a social problem, but there have been significant improvements in the past five years, and it may now deliver enough additional benefits to be worth serious consideration across a wide range of online businesses.
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