Age Verification Providers Association

Confirmation that digital proof of age will be allowed for alcohol sales in the UK through the Data (Use and Access) Bill. Licensees will need a mechanism to validate digital proofs of age as a merely visual check is too open to abuse. For this to work across proofs from multiple issuers, we’ve worked with across the industry to develop a public key infrastructure based approach that allows an 18+ user to generate a signed QR code in a standard format that any pub, club or shop can read mostly using existing hardware. There will need to be a commercial orchestration scheme to share revenue with issuers. Retailers could pay a simple annual license fee to fund the scheme, encouraging much more rapid adoption than a model where consumers pay issuers for their digital ID instead. https://lnkd.in/eRmKiH2F

Good to see this highly misleading article about Yoti's facial age estimation technology by Crikey has been found to breach Australian Press Council rules, and the website has published the conclusion: "the Council considers the article is significantly misleading." https://lnkd.in/eE26r_PG

With new opportunities come new threats - age assurance needs to be built into any online experience with a risk of harm to children; and AI is perhaps the biggest unknowable risk there is.

We often hear critics of age assurance requirements argue they are pointless because children can simply use a virtual private network (#VPN) to evade them by pretending to be in a jurisdiction that does not require age checks. This is a fallacy. There are no laws we have found in any state or country globally that exempt websites from age verification requirements if a user applies a VPN.     1.        Legal responsibility remains with the website: Websites or apps providing age-restricted content or services are legally obligated to ensure compliance with age verification laws to users physically located within jurisdictions where they are in force, regardless of whether users attempt to bypass these measures using a VPN.     2.        VPNs do not nullify regulations: The application of a VPN by a user does not absolve the website from its duty to verify the age of users accessing its services. Legal frameworks, such as those in the UK’s Online Safety Bill or other regulatory environments, place responsibility on websites to implement robust age verification systems, irrespective of user behaviour. Some regulators such as the Coimisiún na Meán in Ireland, also require sites to prohibit the use of VPNs or other circumvention techniques     3.        No legal exemption for users or websites: A VPN may obscure a user’s location or IP address, but it does not create a loophole in the law. Websites must maintain compliance, and users attempting to circumvent these measures may still face consequences under the site’s terms or applicable laws. "But the child used a VPN to access harmful content, your honor" is not a defense.     4.        Compliance systems are designed to detect dircumvention: Many modern platforms and some age assurance systems are designed to address circumvention attempts, including identifying patterns consistent with VPN use. Netflix, the BBC and ESPN have been doing this for years. So while some adult websites may have seen the chance to promote sales of VPNs when they apply blocks to certain geographies, that is motivated by the commission they earn, not sound legal advice. Information Commissioner's Office Ofcom Ken Paxton California Privacy Protection Agency Utah Department of Commerce Ashley Moody Todd Rokita Letitia James Office of the New York State Attorney General

We are looking forward to the details when a change to the Mandatory Licensing Conditions to remove the requirement for a hologram or ultraviolet mark - notoriously difficult to display on a smartphone - and permit the use of digital proof of age. Key questions which we have been considering with our members for several years now, and have solutions to hand, will be: - How does a user authenticate the use of the digital proof of age when using it in person, such that the licensee can be confident they are the rightful owner? Fortunately, tech is far better than the human eye at comparing photos to people. (This is not currently addressed in the Trust Framework which focuses on online use-cases) - Can this be done in such a way that the proof can be used at a self-service checkout - no more red light waits - creating a significant additional benefit to shoppers? - Can this be deployed in a way that allows for universal acceptance of any Trust Mark certified issuer's digital proof of age by any licensee - rather than going back to the days when only certain credit cards worked in certain stores - as this #interoperability is critical to the speed of adoption - What will be the underlying commercial model to incentivise issuers to invest in supplying proofs of age for this purpose? Licensees don't pay to look a your plastic driving licence, but are willing to pay for a faster, more accurate and more convenient digitial alternative. A commercial orchestration scheme will be required, particularly if interoperability is a priority. Once answers to these questions are agreed across industry and government, they may need to be captured in a "supplementary code" which will now be owned by the Office for Digital Identities & Attributes within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, but we look forward to supporting the rapid development of this code, ideally well ahead of the changes to the licensing laws coming into force. We have already demonstrated at the Global Age Assurance Standards Summit #GAASS in Manchester last April how a straightforward public key infrastructure can technically enable interoperability, and have been working in partnership with the Proof of Age Standards Scheme (https://lnkd.in/eapnwjFR) to design and procure the necessary infrastructure. With a fair wind, continued collaboration across issuers and relying parties, and Parliamentary approval, we can launch digital proof of age for use by shoppers, drinkers, clubbers and gamblers perhaps in time for the next summit in April! Hannah Rutter Dr Charlie Harry Smith Ellery Shentall Yoti Lucidity CitizenCard Young Scot Lloyds Banking Group Post Office Ltd IDGO TOTUM by OneVoice British Beer & Pub Association Association of Convenience Stores James Lowman UKHospitality Betting and Gaming Council Select ID Ltd Age Check Certification Scheme Biometric Update https://lnkd.in/erEd_cwF

Great news that we’re finally moving into the 21st Century and allowing people to prove their age - NOT THEIR IDENTITY - with their phones when buying alcohol But please don’t confuse this with ID. The whole point of our industry is to prove your age without disclosing your ID. “Digital ID for pubs and clubs in (half) victory for Tony Blair” Caroline Wheeler Peter Kyle https://lnkd.in/eeDpx5Tw

We had the chance to update delegates at the WeProtect Global Alliance 2024 conference on the latest initiatives in age assurance: - euCONSENT ASBL’s tokenized, double-blind, device-based interoperability - EU largescale pilot for using the EUDI wallet for age verification - EU tender for an interim AV app - Australian Age Assurance Technology Trial - ProjectDefAI.com - US Supreme Court hearing on AV during a session on the multi stakeholder dialogue facilitated by Centre for Information Policy Leadership (CIPL).

Melinda Tankard Reist asked us some highly pertinent questions down the road from where the Australian Parliament is considering new legislation on social media. Our aim is to enable informed debate. Policy decisions are always for elected representatives. Collective Shout

It is hard to believe, but Aylo, owners of Pornhub and many other partner sites which post content onto that site, has told James Titcomb at The Telegraph that they are not actually a 'porn' site, but are in fact a social media site! Their claim is that the site hosts "user" generated content - but many of those users are subsidiaries of Aylo, and the general public cannot post content. Hard to believe, but we have seen the adult sector look for every opportunity to resist or delay #AgeVerification and #AgeEstimation requirements in the courts. Ofcom has not yet published its final guidance and, as part of their formal consultation on the draft version, we highlighted the need for absolute clarity as to which Part of the Act adult sites fall under. The draft guidance already states "We are likely to consider a service provider to have exercised control over the pornographic content appearing on its service where it exercises editorial control over the nature, selection or presentation of the content." Pornhub has helpfully now emphasised the need to tighten this guidance before publication As US judge, Justice Potter Stewart, said back in 1964 when trying to define porn: "I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced... but I know it when I see it ..." British parents will certainly apply the same test, and with Pornhub, the clue is also in the name. Peter Kyle Melanie Dawes https://lnkd.in/eG_Yjy4t

Coming up this Thursday afternoon, please sign up to attend in person in Canberra, or online to learn about the trial and how to get involved as either: - a digital platform that may need to apply age assurance in future; - a platfrom that already applies age assurance and would like its approach to be reviewed by the trial; or - a technology supplier supporting the age assurance process whose solution it would like assessed. Media, academics and anyone else with an interest in this project are all welcome. Register here: https://lnkd.in/gnKQ7nu3