New age-verification laws and tools are designed for child safety on social media and the internet, but adults are in the crosshairs, say privacy experts.
Online age verification systems fail to protect children | Proton
Do online age verification systems improve child safety? See how age restrictions and age checks fall short, and what that means for privacy and protection.
The Dangers of Age Verification Provisions
One proposed solution to ensuring safe youth online experiences is age verification provisions, which require platforms to confirm the ages
Teen and Parent Perspectives on Approaches to Age Verification
Age verification (AV) is being rolled out by online services to comply with new laws in Europe and across states in the United States. Proposed legislation at the federal level in the U.S., such as the Kids Off Social Media Act and the Kids Online Safety Act, may also result in increased adoption of AV […]
Online Age Verification: Government Legislation, Supplier Responsibilization, and Public Perceptions
There are widespread concerns about the online harms to children operating online. As such, governments have enacted laws to require online service providers to deploy age verification to prevent such harms. We investigate the following three research questions regarding this topic: (1) To what extent have different governments legislated age verification controls? (2) Do governments embrace a responsibilization strategy when it comes to online age verification? and (3) How does the UK public feel about online age verification legislation? We find that governments are applying a responsibilization strategy, which has led to widespread deployment of privacy-invasive or ineffective age verification. The former violates the privacy of underage users, with the latter undermining the overarching aims of the legislation. We have also found general disengagement and a lack of trust in the government amongst the public with regards to new online age verification laws within the UK. To conclude, despite governments globally looking to put more robust online age verification mechanisms in place, there remains a general lack of privacy preservation and affordable technological solutions. Moreover, the overarching aims of the online safety and age verification legislative changes may not be satisfied due to the general public stakeholder group's disengagement and lack of trust in their government.
Ensuring a safer online experience for U.S. kids and teens
An overview of our approach to age assurance and our commitment to online safety for young users and families.
Age verification is coming for the internet — and it’s already raising red flags
Legislative efforts to age-gate parts of the internet are gaining traction. Some experts warn of compliance complications and data security breaches.
Age verification: Child protection or privacy risk?
With more platforms and governments asking for age verification, we look at the options and the implications.
Who’s Harmed by Age Verification Mandates?
Age-verification laws may sound straightforward to some: protect young people online by making everyone prove their age. But in reality, these mandates force users into one of two flawed
Age Verification and Age Gating: Resource Hub
Age verification (or age-gating) laws generally require online services to check, estimate, or verify all users’ ages—often through invasive tools like ID checks, biometric scans, or other dubious
IACIS 2026 - OpenConf Abstract Submission, Peer Review, and Event Management System
As lawmakers across the United States move to require age verification for access to adult content online, new questions are emerging about the unintended risks these laws create. While intended to protect minors, many of these policies rely on systems that collect and store overly sensitive personal information such as government-issued IDs or biometric data without adequate safeguards. This introduces serious cybersecurity vulnerabilities, privacy concerns, and potential legal liability for platforms and users alike. Some major platforms have already withdrawn from certain states rather than comply, raising questions about the real-world feasibility of these laws. This study examines the intersection of digital privacy, cybersecurity, and legal compliance in the context of mandatory age verification. It analyzes the risks posed by identity-based and biometric systems, the role of third-party vendors, and the inconsistencies in how states define and enforce these requirements. The paper evaluates several age verification models and concludes that attribute-based verification systems that confirm age eligibility without revealing full identities offers the most secure and privacy-conscious path forward. The findings underscore a critical need for better-designed legislation that balances child protection with digital rights and security. This research provides targeted recommendations for policymakers, platform operators, and cybersecurity professionals, urging a shift toward transparent, accountable, and technically sound solutions before flawed systems become entrenched.
What Would Online Age Verification Mean for Speech, Privacy, and Youth Online Safety?
The "Segregate-and-Suppress" Approach to Regulating Child Safety Online
<div> In an effort to protect children online, regulators around the country and the world are enacting laws that compel Internet publishers to age-authenticat
The Age-Gated Internet Is Sweeping the US. Activists Are Fighting Back
Half of the country now requires age verification to watch porn or access “harmful” content. Digital rights advocates are pushing back against legislation they say will make the internet less safe.
The Digital Loophole: 11th International Conference on Information Systems Security and Privacy, ICISSP 2025
Social media platforms are an integral part of daily life for nearly five billion people worldwide. However, the growing presence of underage users on these platforms raises significant concerns regarding children’s exposure to harmful content and its impact on their mental health. This paper examines the effectiveness of age verification measures implemented on leading platforms Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and X. We evaluate the age verification processes required for account creation by simulating the registration steps for minors on these platforms. We also compare these methods to best practices in online age assurance in finance, betting and public transportation sectors. IEEE provides a standard for evaluating the age assurance of a platform or service. Our study benchmarks each platform’s approach against the IEEE standard for robustness. Our research identifies gaps that allow underage users to easily bypass existing age restrictions, with particular practices such as allowing disposable emails and basic browser refreshes further weakening self-declared age checks. The findings highlight the need for more robust age verification measures by social media applications to support their stated age limit policies. This work emphasises the urgent need for stronger and more reliable age verification methods to align the digital age of consent across EU member states and beyond with the minimum age requirements on social media.
Supreme Court Upholds Age Verification: A Game-Changer for Child Online Safety Laws – Public Interest Privacy Center
Hack of Age Verification Company Shows Privacy Danger of Social Media
We’ve said it before: online age verification is incompatible with privacy. Companies responsible for storing or processing sensitive documents like drivers’ licenses are likely to encounter data
