By Vignesh Krishnakumar, co-founder and CTO of HyperVerge
Over 66 percent of the world’s population is online, so it is no wonder that most businesses are too. The concerning part, however, is that a big chunk of these users are minors. Based on our experiences with customers, age verification is increasingly becoming a priority for businesses.
Governments across the world are instating rules to ensure minor protections, and non-compliance is really not an option anymore.
What’s more, traditional methods of age verification like age gating are proving to be inadequate. The industry has been looking for more robust solutions for a few years now, and I believe that we can find them within multimodal biometrics.
But let’s first understand why the traditional methods are lacking.
The age verification landscape
Many businesses use age-gating for verification. Age gating is the practice of restricting access based on age; for example, restricting access for minors on gambling sites. This is done by verifying ID documents, knowledge-based questions, or biometric authentication such as facial recognition.
These methods, while effective in the past, are no longer adequate. It is ridiculously easy to forge IDs, or throw off knowledge-based verification results. Even biometric authentication is not entirely secure as deepfake images can trick crude algorithms.
Fraudsters and criminals use these loopholes to prey on minors via restricted content.
Given this threat, laws around age verification are stringent and heavily enforced across the world.
Age verification laws
Various global institutions have mandated age verification for businesses in specific industries.
- GDPR in the EU has implications for data protection when dealing with minors.
- Age Verification Code of Practice (UK) provides guidance to online businesses on how to effectively verify the age of users accessing age-restricted content.
- Age Appropriate Design Code (AADC) in the UK is a British internet safety and privacy code enforceable under the Data Protection Act. It requires online services to be designed in the best interest of children.
- Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in the US requires websites and online services that collect personal information from children under 13 to obtain parental consent before doing so.
- California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (CAADCA) is based on the UK’s AADC and mandates that companies prioritize child privacy and protection when designing digital products or services aimed at children.
- The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has guidelines for online content providers that recommend age verification measures for certain content.
- The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has regulations in place for broadcasting and telecommunications services.
- The Department of Internal Affairs in New Zealand has guidelines for online content providers that recommend age verification measures for certain content.
These are only some of the laws that mandate age verification, and non-compliance can be an expensive and legally challenging affair.
So when I say that multimodal biometrics can be a solution for effective verification and easy compliance, here’s why.
How multimodal biometrics enhance age verification
Common biometric modalities used for age verification include facial recognition, iris scanning, fingerprint analysis, and voice analysis. Traditionally, any one of them is employed for age verification. But by combining these modalities, you can create a more effective, accurate, and robust age verification process.
Multimodal systems combine the power of various biometric technologies to overcome the limitations of traditional methods. For example, facial recognition can analyze an individual’s overall facial features, while iris scanning can detect unique patterns in the eye. Liveness detection techniques verify that the person being identified is alive and present.
The benefits of using multimodal biometrics can help overcome several challenges that mire the traditional age verification methods:
- By using multiple modalities, the likelihood of errors, such as false positives (incorrectly accepting someone) or false negatives (incorrectly rejecting someone), is significantly reduced.
- Combining different modalities can create a more comprehensive and accurate profile, as each modality offers unique information.
- Multimodal biometrics can be more resistant to spoofing attempts. It’s more challenging for someone to replicate multiple biometric traits simultaneously.
- Scalability is achievable as it is possible to process multiple biometric modalities efficiently, even in large-scale applications.
Multimodal biometrics also improve user experience by offering more options and flexibility to the users.
However, multimodal biometrics is not without its challenges.
Privacy considerations with multimodal biometrics
Multimodal biometrics collect more biometric data than any singular method. What’s more, it also clubs the data and can form a user profile with various modalities. This can turn into a privacy nightmare if not handled properly.
More importantly, using multimodal biometrics for age verification involves handling the data of minors, and the regulations for that are significantly more stringent.
To ensure compliance with data privacy regulations, businesses must obtain user consent for data collection and implement appropriate security measures to protect personal information. Transparency regarding data collection, storage, and usage is also essential.
Here, an effective RegTech solution can help. It is important to pick a solution that complies with the highest standards such as ISO/IEC 30107-1 and 30107-3. This can help businesses navigate the labyrinth of compliance requirements for data collection, storage, and protection.
The future of age verification with multimodal biometrics
Methods such as multimodal biometrics can be further refined when used in conjunction with other methods and technologies.
For example, using multimodal biometrics in conjunction with zero-knowledge proofs or digital IDs can ensure a strong focus on privacy. Also, strong AI algorithms can enhance scalability and speed for multimodal verification.
As technology continues to advance, we can expect further improvements in the accuracy and user experience of multimodal age verification systems. However, ethical considerations and responsible development will be crucial to ensure that these systems are used appropriately.
Age verification is a pertinent issue in the digital age, and I strongly believe that strong AI-backed solutions like multimodal biometrics will be the key to overcoming this.
About the author
Vignesh Krishnakumar is co-founder and CTO of HyperVerge.
Article Topics
age verification | biometrics | children | data privacy | HyperVerge | multimodal biometrics | regulation