\nWith governments demanding actual age verification on websites with adult content, and platforms like social media and Roblox introducing restrictions based on a user\u2019s age, the controversy about different types of age verification and their implications is growing.<\/p>\n
Last week, Roblox announced new age estimation technology which, it says, should help to confirm users\u2019 ages and unlock a feature called Trusted Connections for those aged 13 and older. Trusted Connections allows teens aged between 13 and 17 to add adult users (18+) they know in real life. It’s billed as an option to keep out predators, which is good. But the age estimation technology raises concerns and questions.<\/p>\n
While Roblox didn’t release any details about how its new technology works, the age estimation processes we know are based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools that scan selfies or short videos and compare them to a database to estimate the user\u2019s age. Needless to say, they are not always right and it opens up the system to deepfakes, and spoofing.<\/p>\n
This kind of technology is more effective than asking the user to provide their birthday or check a box that they are over 18, but it\u2019s not waterproof.<\/p>\n
We see similar concerns when it comes to age verification for sites that host adult content. As of this Friday, websites operating in the UK with pornographic content must “robustly” age-check users.<\/p>\n
The regulator, Ofcom, lists a number of allowed methods which all have their pros and cons:<\/p>\n
**Facial age estimation**<\/p>\n
Show your face, get a guess. You take a selfie or a short video, and an algorithm tries to figure out if you look over 18. The tech claims to keep data private, but facial scans are sensitive. And, as we pointed out, accuracy is far from perfect. If you\u2019ve ever been asked to provide an ID in real life because you \u201clook young,\u201d you can expect a digital d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu.<\/p>\n
**Open banking**<\/p>\n
Banks know your age, so why not let them confirm it? Here, you allow the age-check service to peek at your bank account. No bank statements get handed over, just a yes\/no to the question: “Is this customer an adult?” It’s easy, but convincing users to link their bank to a porn site might be a different story.<\/p>\n
**Digital identity services**<\/p>\n
This is the world of digital wallets for your ID. Think of it as carrying your driver\u2019s license in your phone, but only showing the \u201cover 18\u201d part when needed. Sounds great and it is, but you\u2019ll need yet another app in your digital life just to vouch for your adulthood everywhere you go.<\/p>\n
**Credit card age checks**<\/p>\n
Simple logic: you need to be 18+ to have a credit card, so showing a valid one counts as proof. The age-checker pings the payment processor to see if your card is legit. It’s quick and familiar, but not everyone over 18 has a credit card, so it\u2019s not for everyone. Plus your purchase trail grows with every verification.<\/p>\n
**Email-based age estimation**<\/p>\n
Enter your email address. The system tries to deduce your age using records of that email in other \u201cadult\u201d places, like financial or utility services. Basically, you\u2019re allowing digital snooping, and the effectiveness depends on your online life elsewhere having already tipped off your age somewhere along the line.<\/p>\n
**Mobile network operator checks**<\/p>\n
The system queries your phone provider to see if you have any age restrictions on your account. No parental controls? Looks like you\u2019re an adult. Fast, but only as reliable as the information stored at your carrier, and not an option for users on pay-as-you-go or burner numbers.<\/p>\n
**Photo-ID matching**<\/p>\n
You upload your ID and a fresh selfie. The system checks if the faces and ages match up. Classic, effective, and widely used, but you\u2019re giving away a lot of personal information, and trusting that it\u2019ll be kept safe.<\/p>\n
## Privacy concerns<\/p>\n
None of these options is perfect or without risk. Many of these options have privacy implications for the user, or as a commenter told BBC News:<\/p>\n
> “Sure, I will give out my sensitive information to some random, unproven company or\u2026 I will use a VPN. Difficult choice.”<\/p>\n
A VPN is a popular option to circumvent regulations that only apply in certain countries or states. VPNs offer a secure connection when you\u2019re using the internet and they have a variety of uses, but one is getting around blocks based on your location.<\/p>\n
Work is being done on \u201cdouble-anonymity” solutions, but implementation seems to be hard. Double anonymity basically separates the information of two providers from each other. The first provider (website asking for age confirmation) will only get the requester\u2019s age and no other information. The second provider (the age verifier) will not receive information about the service or website the age verification is needed for.<\/p>\n
In essence, the system answers only the question “Is this user of the required age?” to the site, and the third party never knows for what purpose or where this answer is used. This approach is becoming a regulatory standard in places like France to balance protecting minors online with adult users\u2019 privacy. <\/p>\n
We feel \u201cdouble-anonymity\u201d sounds a whole lot better than \u201cage estimation.\u201d But the real question is whether age verification is an effective method to protect children, or is it just another threat to our privacy? Let us know your opinion in the comments.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
**We don ‘t just report on privacy\u2014we offer you the option to use it.**<\/p>\n
Privacy risks should never spread beyond a headline. Keep your online privacy yours by using Malwarebytes Privacy VPN.\n<\/p><\/div>\n
View Advisory Details<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Security Update News Update Information Title Age verification: Child protection or privacy risk? Update ID MALWAREBYTES:08DDAF1F5820A448C8A9DEA4DE56CA96 Type malwarebytes Published 2025-07-24T13:41:48 Last Updated 2025-07-24T13:41:48 Security Impact…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[6,8,12,115,13,33,7,11,5],"class_list":["post-8872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-category_news","tag-cve","tag-cvss","tag-exploit","tag-malwarebytes","tag-news","tag-none","tag-security","tag-tapic","tag-vulnerability"],"yoast_head":"\n
Age verification: Child protection or privacy risk? - zero redgem<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/?p=8872\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Age verification: Child protection or privacy risk? - zero redgem\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Security Update News Update Information Title Age verification: Child protection or privacy risk? Update ID MALWAREBYTES:08DDAF1F5820A448C8A9DEA4DE56CA96 Type malwarebytes Published 2025-07-24T13:41:48 Last Updated 2025-07-24T13:41:48 Security Impact...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/?p=8872\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"zero redgem\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-24T09:45:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"invoker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"invoker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zero.redgem.net\\\/?p=8872#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zero.redgem.net\\\/?p=8872\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"invoker\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zero.redgem.net\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fbfeae8dfad117ac08a7621bee1a1dca\"},\"headline\":\"Age verification: Child protection or privacy risk?\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-24T09:45:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zero.redgem.net\\\/?p=8872\"},\"wordCount\":990,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zero.redgem.net\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"CVE\",\"CVSS\",\"exploit\",\"malwarebytes\",\"news\",\"NONE\",\"Security\",\"tapic\",\"Vulnerability\"],\"articleSection\":[\"category_news\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/zero.redgem.net\\\/?p=8872#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zero.redgem.net\\\/?p=8872\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zero.redgem.net\\\/?p=8872\",\"name\":\"Age verification: Child protection or privacy risk? - zero redgem\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zero.redgem.net\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-24T09:45:45+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zero.redgem.net\\\/?p=8872#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/zero.redgem.net\\\/?p=8872\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zero.redgem.net\\\/?p=8872#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zero.redgem.net\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Age verification: Child protection or privacy risk?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zero.redgem.net\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zero.redgem.net\\\/\",\"name\":\"zero redgem\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zero.redgem.net\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zero.redgem.net\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zero.redgem.net\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"zero redgem\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zero.redgem.net\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zero.redgem.net\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\",\"width\":191,\"height\":188,\"caption\":\"zero redgem\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zero.redgem.net\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zero.redgem.net\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fbfeae8dfad117ac08a7621bee1a1dca\",\"name\":\"invoker\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f17c01d7338e6932bcde121cf83569393df3374625d25afd62677cfb528f2e3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f17c01d7338e6932bcde121cf83569393df3374625d25afd62677cfb528f2e3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f17c01d7338e6932bcde121cf83569393df3374625d25afd62677cfb528f2e3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"invoker\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/zero.redgem.net\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zero.redgem.net\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Age verification: Child protection or privacy risk? - zero redgem","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/?p=8872","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Age verification: Child protection or privacy risk? - zero redgem","og_description":"Security Update News Update Information Title Age verification: Child protection or privacy risk? Update ID MALWAREBYTES:08DDAF1F5820A448C8A9DEA4DE56CA96 Type malwarebytes Published 2025-07-24T13:41:48 Last Updated 2025-07-24T13:41:48 Security Impact...","og_url":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/?p=8872","og_site_name":"zero redgem","article_published_time":"2025-07-24T09:45:45+00:00","author":"invoker","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"invoker","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/?p=8872#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/?p=8872"},"author":{"name":"invoker","@id":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/#\/schema\/person\/fbfeae8dfad117ac08a7621bee1a1dca"},"headline":"Age verification: Child protection or privacy risk?","datePublished":"2025-07-24T09:45:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/?p=8872"},"wordCount":990,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/#organization"},"keywords":["CVE","CVSS","exploit","malwarebytes","news","NONE","Security","tapic","Vulnerability"],"articleSection":["category_news"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/?p=8872#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/?p=8872","url":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/?p=8872","name":"Age verification: Child protection or privacy risk? - zero redgem","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-07-24T09:45:45+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/?p=8872#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/?p=8872"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/?p=8872#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Age verification: Child protection or privacy risk?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/#website","url":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/","name":"zero redgem","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/#organization","name":"zero redgem","url":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"","contentUrl":"","width":191,"height":188,"caption":"zero redgem"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/#\/schema\/person\/fbfeae8dfad117ac08a7621bee1a1dca","name":"invoker","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f17c01d7338e6932bcde121cf83569393df3374625d25afd62677cfb528f2e3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f17c01d7338e6932bcde121cf83569393df3374625d25afd62677cfb528f2e3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f17c01d7338e6932bcde121cf83569393df3374625d25afd62677cfb528f2e3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"invoker"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/zero.redgem.net"],"url":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8872\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zero.redgem.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}