Another Milestone In Drive For Increased Age Assurance Reached As Ofcom And ICO Issue Joint Statement

Apple recently announced that it was rolling out age checks on its devices. Against this background, Ofcom and the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) have published a joint statement about how online services can comply with the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA) and UK data protection legislation when implementing age assurance. This follows their letters to tech firms earlier this month, where they called for them to make sure that age gating works. 

Ofcom and the ICO take a tech-neutral approach, so they don't require tech companies to use any specific age assurance technology. Services have the freedom to choose the method most appropriate to their circumstances, including their size, user base, and available resources, as long as the method is effective and proportionate to the risks involved.