Age Verification Laws Pushing Online Platforms To Amend User Onboarding
Given that the youth is the most important part of a society, they are in charge of the future. In this regard, governments invest a decent amount of resources for the well-being of minors. Children are always more attracted to the latest technological advancements. If we look into our history, we will discover that new innovations are always welcomed by the youth. In 2019, 89% of kids were in possession of cell phones, according to a survey by Statista.
Below are some setbacks of minors’ internet usage.
- Cyberbullying
Social media and online games are the new, virtual playgrounds. Users from every corner of the planet gather there and have conversations. Minors can face bullying or vulgar language while communicating over online games. Their gaming accounts are targets for constant attacks. This twists the game from an entertaining event to an undignified experience in the form of cyberbullying. This result in multiple psychological problems later on in real life.
- Chargeback Claims
Chargebacks are claimed by parents when their children use cards for making online payments without their approval. E-commerce businesses have suffered huge losses because of chargebacks. Online retail websites do not have sufficient age checks for preventing minors from purchasing age-restricted products.
- Frauds and Scams
Fraudsters rely on the innocence of minors because they make easy targets. The most common fraud is a fake prize scheme. Fraudsters email the victims that they have won some prize, and they just have to give card details to claim it. Minors unknowingly give card details, which later result in unauthorized use of cards.
Because of such scams, high internet usage, and rising parents’ concerns, governments have planned to regulate this industry. After all, when every other sector has to comply with the global regulations, then why not online platforms. If not regulated with solid regulations, digital businesses would no longer sustain.
Regulations in the United States of America
COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act)
The COPPA obliges online businesses to ask for VPC (Verifiable Parental Consent) from users below 13 years before onboarding them.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued this law in 2014 in which online platforms have to perform KBA (Knowledge Based Authentication) for verifiable parental consent. In KBA, the users are given some predefined questions, and they have to answer them for signing in to their accounts.
The FTC has set some guidelines on the KBA process, discussed below:
- The users should be asked those questions which a minor cannot answer easily. The chances of correct answers by minors should be minimum
- The number of questions should be average
United Kingdom
Digital Economy Act
To prevent minors from age-restricted content, products, and services, the UK government has imposed the Digital Economy Act. This law mandates online age-restricted content providers to conduct age verification. British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has been assigned as the regulator of age verification laws and will be responsible for regulatory compliance.
The website will be initially sent a notice by BBFC if it does not incorporate age checks. BBFC will start legal proceedings against that site if it further fails to perform age checks. There is no condition of the hosting of the website, if it is giving services in UK jurisdiction then it has to obey the law.
BBFC can also take further actions like:
- Terminating payments made by UK nationals
- Requesting marketing firms and social media sites to terminate dealings with the responsible platform
What Shufti Pro Offers
To remain compliant with the continuously changing regulations, online businesses need a robust and automated solution that can accurately verify the age of their users. With Shufti Pro’s age verification software, the user’s age is extracted and verified from the DOB on the ID documents. The solution can be easily integrated on websites and mobile apps to authenticate end-users with an accuracy rate of 98.67%. On top of this, Shufti Pro’s age verification can seamlessly verify the age of a user in a matter of seconds.
