Next Generation Age Verification!?

• 04/11/2025

One year after the first Global Age Assurance Standards Summit, the crowd has gathered again for three days – this time in Amsterdam – to discuss whether, why, where and how age assurance should be done.

Tech companies presented their products and the improvements in reliability, accuracy and efficiency they have achieved over the last twelve months, while digital service and platform providers looked to regulators  and public authorities to see whether they might become subject to an age assurance obligation in the future – some of them being anxious, while others are pleading for a regulated level playing field.

If one had to decide on the buzzword of the summit, it would definitely be the “wallet”. Driven by the EU Digital Identity Framework Regulation, which  entered into force on May 20^th 2024, member states are required to offer at least one EU Digital Identity wallet to all citizens, and residents by the end of 2026. The wallet will be a mobile app enabling users to identify themselves to public and private online services, all over Europe. In addition, users will be able to store, present and share digital documents such as university diplomas or train tickets as well as electronically sign or seal documents. Given the long timeframe until the end of 2026 and the pressing issues in regard to child online protection from age-inappropriate content, the EC decided to issue a tender for a so-called mini-wallet in order to provide an EU-wide option for age assurance in regard of being a minor or an adult i.e. over 18 years of age. Scytales SA from Sweden and Deutsche Telekom have won the bid and are now staring in the Tech Showcase area at the GAASS 2025 in Amsterdam. Within the next few months, the application will be available for a pilot in at least three European countries in order to give evidence that the white label approach is functional and allows for interoperability with already existing age verification tools on national level. While in Germany more than 100 tools for giving proof of the age of majority have already been evaluated by the FSM and recognised by theKJM,  some other countries are providing certain types of wallets including an age assurance mechanism with varying age brackets. These approaches were discussed also by the members of the large German national delegation at the Summit, which included representatives from government administration, regulators and self-regulatory bodies, law enforcement, relying parties like the tobacco products industry f. e., academia, data protection authorities, standardisation bodies and civil society organisations, bringing in a broad variety of perspectives.

When it came to scrutinizing age assurance instruments in terms of ensuring fundamental human rights, the next few of buzzwords were privacy, anonymity and data minimization, addressed by concepts such as zero-knowledge proof and double blindness. There are still concerns about excessive data processing for the purposes of age verification and estimation. At the same time, however, it was stressed that age assurance should only be applied after a risk assessment of the service, ensuring that children are provided with an age-appropriate digital environment in which they can learn and grow, exercise their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,  and at the same time train to cope with risks and expand their digital literacy. Looking back over the past twelve months, not only have the technical tools evolved, but the discussion has also gained more expertise and broadened perspectives. This will be mirrored in the Summit Communiqué, which will be published here soon. Watch this webiste fro more infromation on the process.