5 Thrilling Questions About Digital Age Verification Answered!

Do you know that presently, 94% of the people with an age group of 3 to 18 can access the internet effortlessly? Among them, 88% can access the internet via computers and the remaining 6% can access the internet only via smartphones. The rest of the 6% do not have any in their houses. 

With great numbers comes great responsibility. The pandemic year was a major excuse for online education. Parents have to permit their children to have internet access for their online studies. But also, parents these days are busy enough that they do not have spare time to keep a critical eye on their child’s activities. This results in unauthorized child access to age-restricted content and products, resulting in child exploitation. Children are getting smarter and smarter in parallel to technological innovations and advancements. Effortless access to age-restricted content has become a major concern of teachers, parents, and e-retailers. There exist a wide range of e-commerce platforms that sell tobacco, alcohol, etc. 

Considering this reality, it’s high time for online businesses to acquire appropriate measures to prevent child’s consumption of explicit content. Minors must be protected from consuming such content that is not suitable for them or can adversely impact their mentality. Age verification solutions play a promising role to restrict underage from accessing explicit content. Age verification online is basically a digital solution that incorporates purpose-built products and services to get age verified of internet users. Merchants who provide age-restricted products and services are subject to moral values and laws to restrict underage access for the protection of minors.

Let’s have a look at the top 5 questions regarding age verification solutions that everyone must know in this era. 

Question #1: Why Is Age Verification Crucial for Online Businesses? 

Following are the reasons which ensure the significance of digital age verification checks and solutions: 

• Age verification checks permit the filtration of those visitors who are eligible for the products of certain businesses. A straightforward message is given to underage uses that they can not have access to a certain product. This age check must be mandatorily incorporated in those stores which are dealing with drugs and tobacco. 

• Online age verification assists businesses to comply with the law. Businesses can work in accordance with laws enforced across the nation with the incorporation of age verification solutions. Failing to follow age verification online can result in hefty fines and legal penalties. Imprisonment can be faced in a worst-case scenario. 

• It is high time for e-merchants that deal with adult products to acquire such appropriate measures that ensure that minors are kept away from their store. Age verification solution restricts minor access to inappropriate goods for the sake of their good future. Hence age verification solutions are mandatory. 

Question #2: What Risks Might be Encountered if Age Verification Solutions Are Not Incorporated? 

Businesses cannot ensure that whether or not their goods and services are appropriate for their users without the integration with such companies that provide AI-powered age verification checks and solutions. Here are few more risks that businesses might face if they do not acquire age verification online solutions. 

• Customers always prefer those popular brands which have a good reputation. 13% of the customers tend to pay 31% to 50% more if the business leaves a positive impact on them. Not incorporating age verification solutions can leave a brand’s reputation at stake, resulting in poor customer experience and decreased sales. 

• Lack of robust systems and KYC practices can lead businesses towards potential risk. European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a challenging framework for online businesses when it boils down to achieving compliance. Lack of clarification in regulations can adversely impact business operations.  

Question #3: Which Industries Must Mandatorily Acquire Age Verification Checks and Solutions? 

Below are some major industries that must mandatorily acquire online age verification checks and solutions. 

• Online gambling platforms: Online gambling is attaining attention among young audiences for the past couple of years such platforms must incorporate age verification frameworks to prevent underage access and child exploitation. 

• Alcohol and Tobacco stores: Since smart children are thriving to find innovative ways to dodge age checks, robust age validation solutions are the need of the hour to prohibit alcohol and tobacco consumption among teenagers.  

• E-gaming Industry: the gaming industry is drastically evolving with the technological advancements in high-end computers and smartphones. Age verification solutions play a pivotal role to keep online gaming platforms safe for minors. 

Question #4: What Are the Traditional Methods of Online Age Verification That Businesses Still Use? 

Considering the fact that minors do not have appropriate credentials to perform transactions, age verification checks must be more robust as well as transparent. Some traditional methods of age verification which are currently utilized by businesses currently are as follow: 

• Payment Card Verification: Payment cards also served for carrying out age verification checks which is an uphill task in the case of underage children since numerous parents have credit cards. Reversal requests from parents might result in non-consenting transactions leaving an adverse impact on business in form of chargeback costs. 

• Self-Authentication: Self-authentication can be easily employed as well as deceived. Children can lie about their age to have access to age-restricted content. Most of the children do not even bother to pay attention to age-restricted guidelines and end up proving false information. Hence robust mechanisms must be indulged to avoid underage access. 

Question #5: How Digital Age Verification Works? 

Online age verification checks and solutions assist businesses to keep track of those customers who are logging in and authenticate their transactions to fight a tremendous battle against identity theft and fraudulent activities. Age verification online is performed through the four steps mentioned below: 

• Submission of date of birth: End-user is required to submit his basic details including, name, date of birth, via an online form. 

• Document uploading process: End-User is required to upload a picture of identity document for example government-issued ID card, driving license, or passport to get his age verified. 

•  Extraction of identity credentials: Relevant details of the end-user are extracted from using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to perform age checks. 

• Verification of results: The secure age verification procedure is complete after the successful authentication of the document’s originality. End-user is either declined or verified on the basis of age verification threshold. 

All in All 

As far as the safety of the internet is concerned, acknowledging visitors about the site content and products is a significant factor. Those online businesses which possess explicit content but have not incorporated online age verification solutions or are not following age checks might face tremendous trouble for permitting underage access to the age-restricted content.  This will not only lead to law-related problems but also leave an adverse impact on the reputation of online businesses. Businesses might have to pay hefty fines or might face heavy penalties by not incorporating age verification solutions. Hence, businesses must integrate themselves with such products that provide trustworthy age verification solutions to prevent underage access and child exploitation.