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06 September 2024 - this statement was published
Age assurance can play an important role in keeping children, and their personal information, safe online.
As part of our work to protect children online, we engage with data protection and privacy authorities globally, including through our own International Age Assurance Working Group, to share information on age assurance and learn from research, policy development and enforcement action.
We have written and signed this joint Statement on a Common International Approach to Age Assurance which sets out key shared principles for the signatory regulators. We hope that this will encourage increased policy coordination and improved regulatory clarity for companies operating internationally, leading us towards a more common international approach to the data protection and privacy implications of age assurance methods.
These principles are intended as a guide to industry of some of our shared expectations on age assurance practice as it relates to data protection and privacy. We therefore urge providers and the suppliers of age assurance services to take account of these principles in their approach to age assurance, whether they operate in the UK or in other jurisdictions.
This statement, signed by regulators across global regions, is the first of its kind in terms of international cooperation and it is in line with our Children’s Code Strategy goal of influencing change internationally. It is also in line with our ICO25 strategic enduring objectives to safeguard and empower people and to empower responsible innovation and sustainable economic growth.
We will continue to work with our international counterparts and international stakeholders, including in the International Age Assurance Working Group, to create a common effort to protect children’s privacy in the UK and across borders.
The ICO is grateful to its international counterparts for their support in developing or signing this Joint Statement, and we look forward to continuing to welcome other signatories to sign this statement in the future.