Age verification process

Description

Age verification is the operational tier-determinator for products that gate features by age (minor-protection regulations, age-rating regimes, alcohol or gambling regimes, content-moderation duties to known minors). Implementation has three pieces: the verification surface (neutral age screen, attestation, document verification, age estimation, or a tiered combination), the verification-event log that documents which method was used per user, and the policy that documents the rationale for the chosen method given the data sensitivity and the applicable regulations. Methods sit on a spectrum from low-friction-low-confidence (self-declaration) to high-friction-high-confidence (government-ID document verification), with age estimation as the contemporary middle ground that most enforcement agencies have begun treating as acceptable for risk-proportionate use cases. The legal defensibility argument for the chosen method is typically documented; regulators have been increasingly willing to reject self-declaration when the platform data sensitivity warrants stronger verification.

Required by (10 regulations)

• CA AADC

  Cal. Civ. Code §§1798.99.28-1798.99.40 (AB 2273, 2022)

• CCPA/CPRA

  Cal. Civ. Code §§1798.100-1798.199.100; 11 CCR §7000-7102

• Minors Online Protection

  Regulations on the Protection of Minors in Cyberspace (promulgated by the State Council, Order No. 766, effective January 1, 2024)

• COPPA

  § 312.5 — verifiable parental consent + age screening.

  15 U.S.C. §§6501-6506; 16 CFR Part 312

• DPDPA

  Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (Act No. 22 of 2023), published in the Gazette of India on August 11, 2023

• DSA

  Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council (Digital Services Act)

• KOSA

  Reasonable measures to identify minor users.

  Kids Online Safety Act, Pub. L. No. 118-XXX (2024); codified in relevant sections of Title 15 U.S.C.

• PIPA

  Personal Information Protection Act (Act No. 10465, enacted March 29, 2011; last wholly amended by Act No. 19234, effective September 15, 2023)

• UK AADC

  Standard 3 — age-appropriate application.

  Data Protection Act 2018, s.123; Age Appropriate Design: A Code of Practice for Online Services (ICO, 2020)

• UK OSA

  Online Safety Act 2023 (c.50)

Fulfilled by (6)

• yoti · full · medium effort · $$
• persona · partial · medium effort · $$
• jumio · partial · high effort · $$$
• In-house build · medium effort
• superawesome · full · medium effort · $$
  COPPA-certified parental-verification flow + SDK.
• privo · full · medium effort · $$
  FTC-approved COPPA safe harbor with age-verification.

ClearLaunch does not accept payment from vendors. Methodology.

Evidence formats

• age-gate flow
• verification-event log
• method-tier policy