A new report looks at how EU age verification could work in practice. It follows the recommendations of the co-chairs of the Special Panel on child safety online. That panel’s final report recommended that the EU introduce age assurance requirements that respect fundamental rights, to better protect children online.
The new report examines how such rules could work in a future EU legislative instrument. It analyses the three fundamental rights most directly engaged in practice. These are the rights to data protection and privacy, to non-discrimination, and to freedom of expression and access to information.
Age assurance means checking or estimating a user’s age online. According to the report, the interferences with these rights could be substantially mitigated. It points to strict enforcement of the GDPR, privacy-preserving deployment architectures, and a focus on choice and optionality. Solid GDPR compliance is therefore central, as age checks involve personal data.
What does it cost? According to the report, online services would invariably face novel costs. For most services these would likely be modest, and they would fall over time.
The report adds that the EU Age Verification blueprint can contribute to a future legislative instrument. It calls the blueprint a privacy-preserving and likely low-cost means of operationalising age assurance. This only works if Member States first close the existing deployment gap. Organisations that may fall in scope should follow developments and make privacy by design their starting point.
