Don’t wait! Find out about age verification for your website now!

In this blog post we explain what you need to do to ensure that your business will continue to be able to monetise the UK market in advance of the Digital Economy Act coming into force.

 

Does my business need age verification?

You need to implement age verification if your online business website is one of the following:

  • Free adult content website e.g. tube site
  • Membership paysite for adult content
  • VoD streaming of adult video content
  • Adult anime (cartoon) content
  • Retailing +18 products e.g. sex toys, sex accessories, adult DVDs, adult magazines, adult books, etc
  • Advertiser/affiliate landing page to sell or describe adult products
  • Blog featuring adult content, adult retail products
  • Adult dating/hookup website
  • Livecam website that includes nude, semi-nude models and/or sexual acts
  • Escort services website
  • Any other website displaying adult content

 

What will happen if I don’t use age verification?

Blocked website: All UK Internet Service Providers (ISPs) will block your website if it is non-compliant, which means your site will not be accessible in the UK.

Heavy fines: The regulator may impose a financial penalty on your company for non-compliance of up to £250,000 or 5% of your qualifying revenue.

 

How do I get age verification for my website?

A number of age verification providers have created new technologies to verify a user’s age with minimal requirements for personal data. One of the age verification solutions with the biggest industry reach is AgeGO.

 

How do I implement AgeGO’s age verification solution?

AgeGO is a self-service platform. Simply sign up,upload your website’s logo and instantly create branded AgeGO widget tags. The tags are fully responsive and work across all devices (desktop, mobile and tablet). Integration is as simple as adding a short javascript code to your website and you are all set. Age verification couldn’t be easier!

 

How does AgeGO verify a users age?

AgeGO offers several BBFC approved methods of verification including:

  • Verification by scanning of photo identification:
    • Current Passport
    • Current Driving Licence
  • Verification with a UK mobile phone and its 3G carrier or via an SMS text
  • Verification with credit card details
  • And other methods that will be detailed in the coming weeks

Please note, AgeGO does not store any personal data of the users it verifies.

 

Why should I choose AgeGO for my business?

Through our strategic partnerships, AgeGO is the age verification solution with the largest industry reach. As a website owner you get full access to advanced statistics in your dashboard for full control over the age verification flow to improve your user pass rate and control costs.

 

I want to know more!

If you have any questions contact us here, we would love to hear from you!

83% of UK parents back Age Verification

According to a survey from Internet Matters, more than 8 out of 10 parents (83%) feel that commercial porn sites should demand users to verify their age before they’re able to access content.

The research also found that 76% of UK parents think there should be greater restrictions online to stop kids seeing adult content, and 69% of parents with children aged four to sixteen think that the government’s new ID restrictions will make a difference.

Internet Matters is a not-for-profit organisation funded by Google, Facebook, the BBC and Sky and the organisation has created a comprehensive online pornography hub of advice for parents who want to manage what their children can see online along with age-specific tips on how to deal with conversations about pornography.

All eyes are on the UK to see how the compulsory online age verification initiative plays out when it comes into law. Several European countries, including France, Sweden and Poland, are contemplating similar initiatives to the UKs to protect children from hardcore pornography. A US-based trade association for the pornography industry the Free Speech Coalition, has acknowledged that “Britain’s efforts are a model for those to come”.

AgeGO offers age verification for online dating websites

You might think that the UK’s Digital Economy Act only applies to pornography websites. But this also extends to any commercial digital platform that contains +18 content targeting the UK.

Let’s look at one online business area and that is Dating. According to Nomura Instinet this market is estimated to be worth $12 billion with 310 million people actively using at least one dating platform by 2020. Revenues are driven by subscription models and subscription or freemium models supported by digital advertising.

As technology has evolved, so have the dating platforms, using ever more sophisticated algorithms to help people match with potential partners and GEO location to find partners nearby. The market is already crowded with user growth seen in niche dating products.

The dating market can be broken down into 3 categories:

Dating Apps
These are native applications and are subject to Google and Apple rules which state no naked content can be shown in user profiles, therefore apps are not subject to having age verification technology, a simple date of birth verification is all that is required without requiring any form of proven age identification.

Romance dating websites
Considered as dating platforms that help users find true love, these websites do not allow users to show nude content in their profiles. Many dating websites also have iOS and Android apps giving users two ways to access the platform and again a simple date of birth verification is all that is required.

Adult dating websites
Considered as casual dating websites for sexual encounters. These websites do contain naked images and X rated profile texts and therefore contain +18 content and will be subject to age verification as demanded by the UK’s Digital Economy Act. Advertisers and affiliates promoting offers to these websites will also have to ensure that their offer landing pages incorporate age verification technology.

The solution
If you run an adult dating website with UK users or you are an advertiser/affiliate targeting UK users to purchase adult dating products, AgeGO is the age verification solution for you. For users, some verification services charge a fee, AgeGO is free, quick and totally anonymous. For businesses AgeGO is simple to implement on our self service platform, businesses can brand the age verification widget to personalise and we take care of the whole verification process for you, so you can get on with running your business. Visit our Business section for more information.

 

YouGov poll states 76% of Brits unaware of age verification to view adult content online

In order to view adult content online in the UK, users will soon have to verify their age to prove they are over 18 years old. This involves supplying proof of age to an age verification platform used by the adult website the user wants to see.

The law is expected to come into force in Q2 of 2019 and despite media attention about the subject in Britain’s tabloid newspapers more than three-quarters of respondents in a new study were not aware the new porn checks are set to be introduced in the UK.

That’s according to a new survey by YouGov, the Internet-based market research and data analytics firm. In the survey of 1,769 Britons – which included more than half who admitted to being regular pornography users – 76% said they were unaware of the incoming restrictions. Two-thirds (67%) revealed they approve of the measures but only a third (34%) believe the so-called porn block will be effective.

When the law comes into full force in order to access adult content sites, users will see on some websites AgeGO as the age verification technology provider. AgeGO is totally secure, anonymous and GDPR compliant. AgeGO does not store any user data and once a user signs up to AgeGO and verifies his age he can access thousands of adult content sites without needing to verify his age again. Check out AgeGOs various verification methods here.

AgeGO is attending The European Summit, Cascais

AgeGO, the Age Verification solution with the industry’s largest reach is attending The European Summit in Cascais, 1 – 4 March. Meet with AgeGO at their meet market table 133 or email info@agego.com to book a meeting.

What is the Digital Economy Act 2017?

Digital economy act

On 15th July 2019, this Act of Parliament comes into full force as UK law. The aim of the Digital Economy Act (DEA 2017) is to build a better infrastructure for the UK’s digital future and to provide vital protections for minors from age-restricted online content.

The UK Government has appointed the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) as the age verification regulator because of their long and proven experience in classifying films, videos, websites, etc.

This new UK law has a direct effect on online commercial pornography services (websites and apps) including all +18 visual content (paid for or free to access), adult dating platforms, +18 e-commerce, etc.

From April 2018 all these commercial pornographic services that are accessible from the UK are required to include front page age-verification controls which will prevent children from seeing content that isn’t appropriate for them.

It is each websites responsibility to provide a front page age verification solution to verify a UK users age before they can access the content within the website and also block access to the website’s content if the user is under 18 years of age. Failure to comply in verifying users ages will lead to substantial fines of up to £250,000 and the website will be blocked within the UK.

AgeGO will offer a BBFC certified age verification technology solution that website owners can easily integrate into their websites, it works like a widget. AgeGO allows UK consumers to choose 1 of several different approved age verification methods such as: Driving Licence, Passport, Mobile Phone or Credit Card. All age verification is totally anonymous, 100% free to the user and their data is fully protected in compliance with GDPR.