The ICO has been working to find out more about some aspects of age assurance, to inform future work.
Measurement of age assurance technologies – part 2 (22 August 2023)
Age assurance is a complex area with technology developing rapidly. Under the Digital Regulation Co-operation Forum (DRCF), Ofcom and the ICO jointly commissioned research to explore ways of measuring the accuracy levels achievable by different age assurance solutions. It encourages further reflection on how to measure the overall effectiveness of age assurance methods, in addition to their technical accuracy. We will continue to work together to ensure regulatory alignment in this area.
Measurement of age assurance technologies - part 1
The ICO commissioned a technical study of measures to assess the effectiveness of age assurance techniques and to understand the potential for consistency, comparability and standardisation of measurement.
Families’ attitudes to age assurance
Under the Digital Regulation Co-operation Forum (DRCF), Ofcom and the ICO jointly commissioned research to explore the attitudes of children and parents/carers to age assurance methods and where they see the balance of trade-offs between considerations such as privacy, online safety and ease of use.
The research involved researchers speaking to parents and children individually, as well as focus groups where children and parents were able to discuss age assurance methods in more depth.