Age Verification Providers Association Study Says Age Assurance Is Accurate for Minors
Despite claims that age-assurance methods for those younger than 18 are insufficient and inaccurate, that's not the case, the Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA) said in a white paper Tuesday. Age verification methods are just as accurate for minors as they are for adults, the organization argued.
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Two assumptions that contend age assurance for minors is too difficult are that "children have less access to traditional age verification methods than adults, leading to exclusion" and "alternative age estimation solutions may not be sufficiently accurate," said AVPA. However, its paper challenges these assumptions.
For example, it cites that children often have more access to a physical ID card than is usually assumed, with 85% of those 13-15 in the U.K. owning a passport, which could be used for age estimation. Besides passports or Proof of Age Cards and school data, banking information can also supply age data. Again, in the U.K., 51% of those aged 13-15 have a bank account, according to a survey conducted by the Money & Pensions Service and cited in the AVPA paper.
AVPA also said that email can verify user age, with a high success rate. In a published study from AVPA member Verifymy included in the white paper, 847 email addresses belonging to individuals younger than 18 were used for age estimation, with 828 ages guessed correctly, a 97.76% true positive rate (TPR).
There is also the argument that age verification impedes people's privacy, which is not true, said AVPA. "Technically, age verification can be achieved using 'one-way blind checks,' where a database confirms only whether submitted details match its records," said the paper. "No direct access is provided to the data itself, and responses are limited to 'yes, correct' or 'no, incorrect.' This method preserves privacy while enabling reliable age verification."
Facial age estimation is one of the most widely known and used ways of verifying age, with a TPR of more than 99% for estimating that 13- to 17-year-olds are younger than 21, according to AVPA member Yoti's published accuracy figures. Professional vouching, where a registered professional verifies a user's age, can also be employed as a backstop method if needed, the paper said.
"Age assurance is perfectly possible for children below the age of 18," the paper concluded. "In most cases, an estimation technique, with or without a buffer age, is more than fit-for-purpose," but in instances where an exact check is needed, "there are plenty of options for age verification available to minors that will confirm a specific birth date."