The Commissioner’s Opinion on Age Assurance for the Children’s Code sets out the ICO’s view on how the law applies and facilitates consistent, clear, predictable regulation to those who might seek to use age assurance to conform with the Children’s Code (formally known as the Age-appropriate design code).

Age-appropriate application is one of the 15 standards that make up the Code. The standard requires information society services (ISS) to take a risk-based approach to recognising the age of their users. This is to ensure they can effectively apply the Code’s standards to child users.

The ICO acknowledges that age assurance technology and the market are developing rapidly. It is for that reason that it has issued a Call for Evidence to develop further and maintain its knowledge in this area.

The ICO is looking for evidence including details on existing or proposed age estimation approaches, novel approaches to age assurance, systems where data protection by design has been applied and the type of economic impact of age assurance approaches. It is only seeking evidence on specific areas related to age assurance in the context of the Children’s Code, and not on uses of age assurance that are beyond this scope or that could not be adapted to support the aims of the Code.

The Call for Evidence closes on 9 December 2021. To access the Opinion and the Call for Evidence, click here.