Sep 29, 2026, 11:59 am EDT |
Joel R. McConvey
Biometrics News
Luc Delany, chief #corporate affairs officer for #compliance provider k-ID, sees the #UK #announcement as a step forward in addressing the privacy versus safety #debate.
“A feature-led test means services will need to show which features are available to under-16s, and which defaults apply to 16 and 17-year-olds,” he says, in an email sent to Biometric Update.
“That is age #adaptation rather than a ban, and it is already live in other #jurisdictions.
Discord last week began #adapting features by age band, with k-ID supporting the age #assurance step.”
Delany #believes “the privacy versus safety trade-off that has framed this debate no longer holds.
With AgeKeys” – the age assurance tech based on the #passkey model – “a user who has completed an age check stores the result as a passkey on their own device.
The site requiring the check never learns who the user is, and the user does not need to repeat the check for every service.”
Delany believes the UK is in a unique #position that will allow it to move quickly on the file, since “the under-16 power already sits inside the #Online #Safety Act and #Ofcom is in place.”