Doing the Right Thing: How Age Verification Protects Kids Online

As a society we have established and live by a set of rules designed to keep merchandise and services intended for adults out of the reach of children. In most states, alcohol sales are restricted to anyone under 21 and 18 to buy tobacco. Entertainment rating systems are used to determine if the content of movies, music or video games is suitable to minors. Adult content magazines are kept out of site behind clerk counters in many stores across the US. Advertising guidelines are followed for age-restricted products and promotional items. Convicted sexual predators are required to register their residence.
Yet on the Internet, it is more like we live in the Wild West where anything goes. Logically we know all these rules still apply. But enforcing them is a different situation.
Kim Cameron, Architect of Identity at Microsoft Corporation, states the problem clearly within his paper on the Laws of Identity: “the Internet was built without a way to know who and what you are connecting to.” And Peter Steiner, cartoonist at the New Yorker hints at the dangers this poses in his well known cartoon: “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.”
Fortunately, advanced age and identity verification technology solutions exist that foster online trust and allow businesses to know who their customer is when selling, marketing or distributing age-restricted or age-sensitive products, services or content. The result of such solutions is a safer online environment for kids that supports adult freedom of choice and protects sensitive identifying information.
This white paper will review the emerging trends in the age and identity verification market and examine the benefits of integrating an electronic age verification solution within your business.
In the bricks and mortar world age-restricted and age-sensitive protection standards are well established and enforced. We all know the steps such as comparing someone’s physical appearance to an authentic and legal picture ID like a driver’s license. However in the virtual world, most companies have not implemented appropriate age verification mechanisms and some have implemented inadequate methods. Depending on the reason for a verification, there are two methods some businesses use today to verify age – the honesty policy or by credit card authorization.
Both methods present obstacles and are not considered effective for protecting children online. Some of the reasons include:
The honesty policy does not work – according to one study 31% of 7th-12th graders pretend to be older to get onto a website
Kids have their own credit cards
Credit card authorization validates the card only, not that the person using the credit card is the rightful owner
Credit card companies have issued guidelines saying credit cards are not a valid method of age verification and merchants selling age-restricted products need to have the appropriate controls in place to ensure that they abide by the laws governing these transactions.
The amazing growth of social networking websites has highlighted the need for age verification. Recently MySpace.com has been under fire from attorney generals about its attempts to address the dangers the site poses to teens including the opportunity for adults to interact with minors. The company is now faced with a lawsuit pertaining to alleged inappropriate interactions of an adult with a minor.
In an effort to address these complaints, MySpace announced that it will deploy a database that will contain the names and physical descriptions of convicted sex offenders in the United States and automatically search for matches between the database and MySpace user profiles. In response to this announcement, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal described the ineffectiveness of this measure without age and identity verification by saying, “Convicted sex offenders can swiftly circumvent these protections by using fake names – which they can do with ease.”
Additionally, Xanga another social networking site was fined by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over alleged violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The FTC said Xanga collected, used, and disclosed personal information from children under the age of 13 without first notifying parents and obtaining their consent.
Because of the events and issues surrounding social networking sites, attorney generals from numerous states have a newly established task force to study the impact and potential harm to children from an apparant lack of lawlessness in online communities.