A new international standard for age assurance systems has been developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), in collaboration with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC): ISO/IEC 27566-1(1). As governments around the world begin to tighten the rules on age-appropriate access to online services, this new standard offers an internationally recognised framework when designing and operating age assurance systems in a privacy-preserving way.

From the European Union’s Digital Services Act to the United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act and Australia’s restrictions on under-16 social media use, regulations are tightening, and the need for robust forms of age assurance is only increasing. The standard, intended to support organisations and regulators, provides them with a clear pathway for balancing online safety obligations with privacy and data protection requirements. Industry stakeholders have finally been given what they have been calling for: a globally recognised framework that ensures the design and operation of age assurance systems are effective, fair, and privacy-preserving for children. Ultimately, users can have greater confidence in age assurance systems which will in turn increase trust.