{"id":70430,"date":"2026-01-30T17:35:48","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T20:35:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tech.einnews.com\/article\/888046619"},"modified":"2026-01-30T17:35:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T20:35:48","slug":"how-to-deploy-responsible-age-checks-at-scale-big-tech-titans-give-different-answers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/01\/30\/how-to-deploy-responsible-age-checks-at-scale-big-tech-titans-give-different-answers\/","title":{"rendered":"How to deploy responsible age checks at scale? Big Tech titans give different answers"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

One of the more remarkable contrasts at this week\u2019s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) panel on age verification<\/a> comes in a familiar format: regulator versus Big Tech. In this case, the regulator in question is FTC Commissioner Mark Meador, specifically in his prepared remarks, which take an uncharacteristically stern tone with regard to social media.<\/p>\n

Meador begins his speech<\/a> by interrogating the now-common term \u201cdigital natives.\u201d That phrase, he says, implies an ambient transformation of the natural state of human existence, rather than an engineered result.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, of course, someone is responsible,\u201d he says. \u201cThe online world in which my children, and many of your children, are growing up is a world profoundly shaped by the decisions of powerful people in high places. For the last two decades or so, these same people have been running an elaborate set of economic, psychometric, and socio-emotional experiments on America\u2019s young people.\u201d As such, he says, a more appropriate term is \u201cdigital subjects.\u201d<\/p>\n

What makes the contrast with Big Tech remarkable is that the companies running those experiments were in the room to hear Medor deliver his accusations in person. Panelists for the day\u2019s session on how to deploy responsible age verification<\/a> at scale include representatives from Meta, Google and Apple \u2013 all implicated in Meadow\u2019s broadside.<\/p>\n

The panel is rounded out by speakers from the The App Association, youth advertising firm Superawesome, and the CEO of UK age assurance and digital ID provider Yoti<\/a>, Robin Tombs.<\/p>\n

The key term, which straddles the two presentations, is \u201cresponsible,\u201d in that it not only implies stewardship, but also legal liability \u2013 the thing Big Tech is desperate to avoid.<\/p>\n

Google: data mining for algorithmic age assurance<\/h2>\n

Google\u2019s take on responsible age assurance at scale is that it \u201cis working to be part of the solution.\u201d The company\u2019s child safety policy manager, Emily Cashman Kirstein, says that the company wants to ensure kids get the best experiences from their products (which include YouTube) and has, predictably for Silicon Valley, based its solution on AI.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have fully rolled out an age inference<\/a> model in the United States, which we\u2019ll be rolling out globally, that helps to determine if the user is an adult or not,\u201d Kirstein says. \u201cWe\u2019ve heard about the promise of using machine learning and AI for this purpose, and that\u2019s exactly what we\u2019re doing at Google.\u201d<\/p>\n

The model she\u2019s referring to has raised concerns<\/a> about data privacy, and they would seem to be warranted. \u201cOur age inference model takes information we know about our users without collecting additional data and works to confirm whether or not that user is an adult or not,\u201d Kirstein says. Decisions are \u201cbased on factors like, how long has a user had their account? If this person has had their account for 20 years, they\u2019re probably an adult. Is that person depending on their privacy settings? Is that person searching for tax assistance on search? Are they looking for how-to plumbing videos on YouTube?\u201d<\/p>\n

Google\u2019s response<\/a> to the question of age assurance at scale tells us two things. One, social media companies certainly already have the technology to know how old their users are. Two, its primary model is to simply harvest more user data.<\/p>\n

That said, the company also allows for alternative methods for age checks, such as document verification. Kierstam notes that it has launched APIs for app developers and websites to receive age information through a zero knowledge proof<\/a> (ZKP) pipeline. Overall, the company wants to stay on top of rapid change.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so important to keep an open mind to see where the elements like privacy capabilities, precision improvements will take us going forward,\u201d she says. \u201cThis is very much an ongoing conversation for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meta: reluctant compliance, relentless litigation<\/h2>\n

Meta\u2019s VP and Global Head of Safety Antigone Davis says the company has \u201ctaken a comprehensive approach to ensuring that teens have an age appropriate experience online.\u201d She touts the company\u2019s Teen Accounts, \u201cwhich have built-in protections that are offered specifically for 13-to-15 year olds, but also for 16-17 year olds, and they change across those age boundaries.\u201d This is a variant on a model that looks increasingly necessary for age assurance at scale, at least in the case of social media: a tiered system that curates content, rather than a binary yes\/no threshold for access. Davis says Meta has also been integrating machine learning tools for age inference, which could facilitate this.<\/p>\n

Perhaps Meta\u2019s most convincing step toward a full embrace of age assurance technology is its partnership in k-ID\u2019s OpenAge initiative, which leverages FIDO passkey technology for its AgeKey system. However, its endorsement does not come without a caveat. \u201cWe think this is a very promising piece of technology,\u201d Davis says, \u201calthough it still puts parents in the position of having to do this or teens in the position to do this across numerous apps.\u201d<\/p>\n

Which brings her to Meta\u2019s actual position on how to deploy responsible age assurance at scale: make someone else do it. Davis says Meta is pushing for \u201ca proactive a piece of legislation that would essentially put in place an approach at which at the app store<\/a> you would be able to collect both a parental approval and an age from the minor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we think the most effective way to do this is to really to basically have a simple process: when a parent gets them their smartphone, the parent can easily go into their Apple account, their Google account or their other account, confirm they\u2019re the parent or guardian, give the teen\u2019s age that can be passed to us in a privacy preserving way, to ensure that we can provide those age appropriate experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meta\u2019s opinions on age assurance must be taken with a heavy salting as long as it is deploying Silicon Valley\u2019s legal lobby, NetChoice, to litigate every age check law<\/a> on the state level. Davis repeats the talking point that says age assurance at the platform level will mean kids or parents doing an age check for every app, as though age laws are targeting everything on the internet, rather than five to ten massive companies. All of it is a variant on the company\u2019s trademark theme: we\u2019ll follow the law but fight it<\/a>, while we pitch alternative solutions that work in our interest.<\/p>\n

Apple: do you not see what we\u2019ve done here?<\/h2>\n

Apple has avoided the bulk of online safety regulators\u2019 wrath, which has largely targeted pornography and social media \u2013 neither of which Apple deals in. However, in part because of Meta\u2019s lobbying<\/a>, legislators have begun to explore laws that put age assurance requirements at the app store level. One of the first is Utah\u2019s App Store Accountability Act, which Meta has publicly endorsed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Apple\u2019s panelist is Nick Rossi, the company\u2019s director of federal government affairs (and a 25-year veteran of the U.S. federal public service). He says the app store is already a \u201csafe and trusted platform for users to discover millions of apps.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut at the same time, we\u2019ve also created a suite of tools and features to help keep kids safe. That includes tools that allow parents to approve or disapprove of any app download or in-app purchase \u2013 to set app specific time limits or to control who can start a conversation with their kids.\u201d And, he says, \u201cwe\u2019ve rolled out within this last year a privacy protective age assurance solution<\/a> that gives kids and parents the ability to share kids age ranges with developers for the purpose of providing them with safe and age appropriate features and content, but only with the approval of parents.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, a tiered system which operates at the app store level. In brief, Apple says: what more do you want from us?<\/p>\n

Yoti: we\u2019ve been doing this for ten years<\/h2>\n

None of Google, Meta or Apple are speaking entirely in good faith: Silicon Valley has proven itself generally hostile to any attempt to shrink, temper or diminish its influence and reach. In certain respects, age checks are fundamentally inconvenient to their mission of endless growth.<\/p>\n

For Yoti<\/a>, on the other hand, age checks are part of its core business, and it has been working at the center of the industry for more than a decade. \u201cWe\u2019ve done over 1 billion facial age estimations over the last seven years and about 1.1 billion age checks<\/a> in total,\u201d says Robin Tombs, CEO.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do those in lots and lots of sectors \u2013 particularly social media, gaming<\/a>, adult sites, vaping, e-commerce, supermarkets, self-checkouts and a few other areas like gambling machines.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we have quite a lot of understanding of how to help businesses comply in the age sector and we\u2019ve seen how that\u2019s changed over the last few years as technology has improved and more centers and regulations have been introduced and all of the challenges that that has brought.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tombs, in effect, has been in the age verification trenches, and knows how legislation and regulation play out on the ground. The complexity of international regulatory regimes is one thing for companies trying to comply \u2013 but many, he says, aren\u2019t even sure how.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s lots and lots of sites which are not really sure, how do I test to ensure that facial age estimation<\/a> is accurate and not biased across skin tones and ages and sexes?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that\u2019s changed in the last two two and a half years, particularly with the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology. We now do a huge amount of testing of vendor<\/a>s. So there are benefits now coming through, that businesses without expertise can rely on independent testing to ensure that they pick vendors who are hopefully offering good services.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yoti\u2019s position, at least for most businesses that aren\u2019t among the world\u2019s largest, is that deploying responsible age assurance at scale is simple: hire a trusted vendor with a proven track record.<\/p>\n

App Association: won\u2019t someone consider the swine?<\/h2>\n

From the melee of opinion, promises and deflection, an unlikely star rises to capture the hearts and minds of the panelists. It comes to the party via Graham Dufault, general counsel for the App Association, who is there to argue that making app stores do age assurance puts the burden on apps that don\u2019t fit into the targeted categories, and don\u2019t present any real risk to children.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo much of the app ecosystem and so much of the digital ecosystem in general is business to business,\u201d Dufault says. In that scenario, age assurance \u201chas never really been a good fit, because it presents a risk without having that commensurate need to address an age related risk or need to provide an age related benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n

This sets up the surprise reveal: \u201cOne of the examples I always think of, in terms of companies that don\u2019t fall into that category of firms that really need access to age verification, is Swine Tech. It\u2019s a provider of a software tool that helps pig farmers manage their farms, right? It\u2019s distributed on Android. And it doesn\u2019t present those age-related risks.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the end, then, the question of deploying age assurance at scale boils down to the swine farmer. In saving the children, will we doom the pigs, when Farmer Joe refuses to perform age verification to download his app? It comes back to the question of responsibility: how many people and things will online safety measures disrupt? Who will speak for the pig farmer? And who will the lawyers call when the question of liability arises?<\/p>\n

Meador: \u2018It is efficient. It is secure. And it is the future\u2019<\/h2>\n

The last word goes to Commissioner Mark Meador, who addresses the criticism that age assurance has to make adults\u2019 lives harder. \u201cWe hear that we won\u2019t be able to download basic apps, like calculators, without having to submit to an onerous age check,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

But this is not so.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no reason this process needs to be cumbersome and messy, or invasive. When I look at the landscape of age verification technologies<\/a> today, I have to say \u2013 I\u2019m incredibly impressed with what entrepreneurs are coming up with. Just as policymakers have grown more interested in these measures as ways to keep kids safer online, the market has responded to do what it does at its best \u2013 meet the needs of the moment in efficient and sophisticated ways. With the new age verification systems that are emerging, you don\u2019t need to hand over your personal data, or your child\u2019s personal data, to a company you might not trust. Instead, these systems rely on third-party providers who keep that data secure. Third parties who can contract with social media companies, or other online service providers, to simply verify whether a user is old enough to access a product, without turning over any raw personal data. This is elegant. It is efficient. It is secure. And it is the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

More coverage from FTC Age Verification Workshop<\/h3>\n

FTC workshop shows age assurance sector positioned to support legislative trend in US<\/a><\/p>\n

FTC panel gets existential in pondering why online age verification matters<\/a><\/p>\n

Age assurance policy landscape sees different camps adopt different positions<\/a><\/p>\n

How to deploy responsible age checks at scale? Big Tech titans give different answers<\/a><\/p>\n

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Article Topics<\/h2>\n

age inference<\/a>  |  age verification<\/a>  |  app store age verification<\/a>  |  Apple<\/a>  |  biometric age estimation<\/a>  |  FTC<\/a>  |  Google<\/a>  |  Meta<\/a>  |  social media<\/a>  |  United States<\/a>  |  Yoti<\/a><\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… familiar format: regulator versus Big Tech<\/span>. In this case, the … makes the contrast with Big Tech<\/span> remarkable is that the … liability \u00e2\u0080\u0093 the thing Big Tech<\/span> is desperate to avoid. Google … initiative, which leverages FIDO passkey technology<\/span> for its AgeKey system. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70430\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}