Regulation
Articles
Feb 15, 2024
The Age Appropriate Design Code for businesses
This blog was updated in February 2024, following the ICO’s updated opinion on age assurance for the Children’s Code. In a nutshell the main changes include: Facial age estimation is now recognised as the most widely used age estimation approach, with high levels of accuracy. Self-declaration on its own is not sufficient for high-risk services. The ICO has also introduced a new term, the ‘waterfall technique’. This refers to a combination of age assurance methods. Companies should ensure that any age assurance system implemented has an appropriate level of technical accuracy, reliability and robustness, whilst operating in a fair way
Articles
Feb 13, 2024
Understanding verification requirements in the new Digital Services Act
The EU’s new Digital Services Act (DSA) will apply from the 17th February this year. Originally only applicable to ‘very large online platforms’ (VLOPs) and ‘very large online search engines’ (VLOSEs) with over 45 million monthly users, it will eventually be expanded to cover all online intermediaries and platforms that offer their services to users based in the EU. These include online marketplaces, social networks, adult content companies, content sharing platforms, app stores, and online travel and accommodation platforms. To comply with certain parts of the Act, platforms will need to have effective verification of business users and support age-appropriate
Articles
Oct 26, 2023
Online Safety Act becomes law
After years of debate and discussion, the Online Safety Act is now law – marking a new chapter in online safety. There are three key elements within the Online Safety Act that we are ready to help with: Age assurance to help platforms create safe, age-appropriate experiences online User verification to give users more control over who they interact with online Over 18 consent from content creators for the publication of intimate images Age assurance in the Online Safety Act The Online Safety Act is not about excluding children from the internet. It’s about giving them an experience
Articles
Sep 12, 2023
Understanding age assurance in the Online Safety Act
The Online Safety Act 2023 is a piece of UK legislation that aims to protect children and adults online. It covers a wide range of issues including minimising the risk of children seeing harmful and age-inappropriate content, removing illegal content like child sexual abuse material (CSAM), criminalising fraudulent and scam ads, and introducing age verification for certain online services. This blog looks at some of the age requirements in the Online Safety Act and what this means for tech companies, adult sites, gaming companies, social media platforms and dating sites. What is the purpose of the Online Safety Act 2023?
Articles
Aug 16, 2023
Australia’s new National Self-Exclusion Register
From 21st August 2023, Australians will be able to ban themselves from all online wagering companies. “BetStop”, the National Self-Exclusion Register (NSER) will let people exclude themselves from all licensed online wagering operators, for a minimum of 3 months and up to a lifetime. The move aims to protect vulnerable people and reduce problem wagering. The BetStop NSER will be managed by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). ACMA released a report which found that 11 per cent of Australians had participated in online wagering in the past six months – up from 8% in 2020. What does
Articles
Jul 28, 2023
Asking the FTC to approve facial age estimation for verifiable parental consent
Together with the Privacy Certified program of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) and Kids Web Services Ltd, a wholly owned Epic Games subsidiary, we are asking the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for approval to implement facial age estimation as an authorised method for verifiable parental consent (VPC). The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) requires companies to ensure they are not collecting personal data from children under the age of 13 without a parent’s consent. Currently, the COPPA Rule enumerates seven, non-exhaustive methods that enable parents to verify their consent. These include verification by government ID, credit card transaction,
