Empowering Children in a Digital Age
Today, one in three online users is under the age of 18[1]. However, the development and management of most digital technologies and content have not anticipated their use by children. In an effort to protect Children on the Internet and help ensure that digital experiences are age-appropriate when designed for children, IEEE SA has a growing portfolio of programs focused on standardization and the establishment of processes and frameworks by which systems can be implemented to create safer online environments for minors.
About the IEEE Age Verification Certification Program
This certification program assesses the design, specification, evaluation, and deployment of age verification systems against the framework identified in the IEEE 2089.1™, Standard for Online Age Verification. It is part of the IEEE 2089 series of standards deliverables, focusing on age-appropriate design of digital services and helping to build a better digital world for children.
The IEEE 2089.1 standard was developed to provide a set of processes for digital services to verify or estimate the age or age-range of a user with a proportionate degree of accuracy and certainty in determining the age of a child. This will allow organizations to limit access to their products and services based on suitability of age keeping the rights and needs of children in mind.
These processes associated with digital services are essential in creating a digital environment that supports, by design and delivery, children’s safety, privacy, autonomy, agency, and health. The program specifically provides a set of guidelines and best practices that offer a level of validation for Age Assurance decisions that may be either required by law or voluntarily implemented for business or social reasons.
There are six indicators of confidence identified by the IEEE 2089.1 Standard for consideration in the process:
- Accuracy (4 levels)
- Frequency of assurance (4 levels)
- Counter-fraud measures (3 levels)
- Authenticity (4 levels)
- Frequency of authenticity (4 levels)
- Birth Date (3 levels)
The certification program verifies that the established quality program conforms to the requirements outlined in the standard.
How Can Age Verification Help?
Age Verification Can Help Digital Services Providers, Policymakers, and Regulators to Address Requirements From Various Jurisdictions Around the World, including:
- Appropriate Design Codes in the UK, California and more
- Europe’s Digital Services Act, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD)
- US’s Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)
- India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA)
Age Verification Can Help Organizations to:
- Recognize that the user may be a child.
- Present content and terms in an age-appropriate manner.
- Offer a level of validation for service design decisions by deploying processes and best practices.
- Help ensure their marketing efforts target age-appropriate audiences and align with applicable regulations protecting minors.
- Build consumer trust and maintain a reputation as a responsible brand.
- Mitigate risk associated with the creation of fraudulent online accounts.
Age Verification Can Help Online Users and Those Responsible for Their Welfare to:
- Identify brands and systems implementing age-appropriate measures that are compliant with the program’s established framework.
- Gain peace of mind by knowing that the systems they access have measures targeted to digital technologies and content in a trusted, age-appropriate environment.
References:
[1] 5Rights Foundation, UNICEF
Help Empower Children in a Digital Age
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