Age Assurance

Addressing Non-compliance, Circumvention, and Unintended Consequences

04 November 2025

University of Nottingham

Overview

Date: Tuesday 4 November 2025
Times: 12.30 to 14.00 GMT, with networking refreshments from 12:00
Event Type: Hybrid
Location: Room A4, Law and Social Sciences Building, University Park Campus, University of Nottingham

• How to get there
• University Park Campus Map

Registration: This is a free to attend event

Please note:

• Limited number of in-person places available
• All registrations (in-person and online) are processed through the LTRC and not PL&B

The Online Safety Act 2023 has marked a turning point in how UK-based internet users access online spaces.

To access content that may be deemed inappropriate for children, individuals must now submit to age assurance checks. This is a significant change from the largely unrestricted access to online platforms that users have previously enjoyed.

We now have a clearer initial picture of the implementation of the Act and its effect on users. While the law seeks to ensure that children are not exposed to harmful content and spaces, there remains a division between compliant and non-compliant platforms.

There is also emerging evidence of significant circumvention of age assurance through VPN use and anecdotal evidence of circumvention by other methods.

Others have raised concerns about unintended consequences for freedom of information and privacy online.

Join us for an illuminating panel event where leading voices from academia and industry will discuss how to respond to such emerging challenges for age assurance.

About the University of Nottingham Law and Tech Research Centre

The University of Nottingham Law and Tech Research Centre (LTRC) explores ways in which emerging technologies interact with law, policy and governance. We engage with researchers, lawyers, technologists, designers, policy makers and communities, to shape new approaches to regulation.

Across a wide range of advancing novel technologies and applications, traditional ways of thinking about law, regulation and governance are being challenged. The LTRC seeks to promote research and discussion on how our thoughts and actions should adapt in response. The LTRC promotes research and discussion on how we should adapt our thoughts and actions. Our core purpose mission is to identify broader insights into the regulation of technology across jurisdictions, through collaborations and synergies between law and other disciplinary perspectives. The work of our members aims at informing new ways of thinking about the development of technology policy and practice.

The University of Nottingham School of Law offers a Technology and Intellectual Property Law LLM Programme 

The LTRC is co-directed by Dr Oliver Butler, Dr Nicholas Gervassis, and Dr Natalie Leesakul

Speakers:

All speakers will attend in person

• Dr Mando Rachovitsa, Associate Professor in Human Rights Law, University of Nottingham
  Dr Rachovitsa’s expertise lies in the areas of human rights law and technology law, including advanced AI.
• Ellie Colegate, Teaching Associate, University of Nottingham
  Ellie specialises in the Online Safety Act 2023. Her recently submitted PhD thesis, undertaken at the EPSRC Horizon Centre for Doctoral Training, investigated how the Act was likely to impact young people and their everyday interactions with social media platforms and online content.
• Dr Claire Bessant, Associate Professor, Northumbria Law School
  Dr Bessant’s interests focus on the impact of technology on children’s privacy online, including the phenomenon of sharenting and social media use.
• Andy Lulham, Chief Operating Officer, Verifymy
  Verifymy is a safety technology provider on a mission to safeguard children and society online. It provides age verification across a range of social media, adult entertainment, online gaming, online marketplace, and online dating websites.
• Julie Dawson, Chief Policy and Regulatory Officer, Yoti
  Yoti is a pioneer in reuseable Digital ID wallets and is a market leader in age assurance technology. Its clients include Instagram, Lloyds Bank, Epic Games, Stirling, and the Post Office.