Age checks
Articles
Jul 25, 2025
Why am I being asked to prove my age online?
If you’ve recently been asked to prove your age while trying to access a website, use an app or watch a video online, you’re not alone. The UK’s Online Safety Act is now in force. From 25th July 2025, businesses are required, by law, to take stronger steps to protect children from harmful or inappropriate content online. One of the biggest changes is the introduction of age checks for online users. We break down exactly why you’re being asked to prove your age, how it works, what it means for your privacy and how we’re helping make age checks
Articles
Jul 25, 2025
Yoti supports platforms as UK’s Online Safety Act comes into force
Today marks a major moment for the internet in the UK: the country’s new Online Safety Act officially comes into force, bringing in a new chapter of accountability for digital platforms and service providers. From social media and gaming, to porn and dating, we’re pleased to be supporting platforms with highly effective, robust and privacy-preserving age assurance solutions. The legislation requires platforms to protect children from harmful or inappropriate content, prevent underage access, and build safer digital environments. Yoti’s age assurance technology is helping platforms to meet these new standards whilst protecting user privacy and anonymity. We’ve also been
Articles
Jul 24, 2025
How can I prove my age online?
You may have noticed that you’re being asked to prove your age more often online. This may be when you’re signing up for new streaming services, buying something online, making a new social media account or trying to access adult content. The UK’s Online Safety Act comes into effect on 25th July. It states that ticking a box saying “I’m over 18” is no longer good enough to keep children safe online. As a result, platforms must bring in stronger age checks for their users. It’s the responsibility of each platform to decide which age checking methods to accept.
Articles
Jul 10, 2025
Age assurance: the facts
Around the world, regulators are introducing online safety and age checking laws to protect minors online. But some people believe that age assurance can’t be done without risking our privacy. In reality, the challenge of checking someone’s age online in a privacy-preserving way has been solved. In this paper, we address some of the common concerns around age assurance. Read the facts
Articles
Jul 03, 2025
How accurate can facial age estimation get?
Facial age estimation using machine learning has advanced significantly in recent years. But, a common and fair question still arises: How accurate can it really be? Can a system look at your face and accurately guess your age, especially when humans often get it wrong? The short answer is that it’s very accurate – but not perfect. We explain why. The myth of 100% accuracy It’s important to set realistic expectations. No facial age estimation model can achieve 100% accuracy across all ages. Human aging is highly individual and shaped by many external factors, especially as we get
Articles
Jun 27, 2025
The Supreme Court rules in favour of age verification
The question of whether states can require age checks on adult websites has reached a turning point in the US courts. In Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, the case challenged Texas’s H.B. 1181 law, which required commercial websites that publish sexually explicit content to verify the ages of their visitors to prevent minors from accessing pornography. One of the big discussion points has been whether, in 2025, it is still too burdensome for US adults to prove age privately compared to 20 years ago – especially when privacy-preserving age verification tools have advanced significantly. The Supreme Court has upheld
