Digital Age Verification – Online Perils & Minor Protection

No doubt digitization has given countless benefits to the daily lives of consumers. But the rapid transformation towards digital platforms also has some drawbacks. Online scams and digital frauds are the terms that entered the system in recent years. Cyberbullying and other internet-related crimes need to be addressed before jumping to the benefits. Not only elders but minors are also at the possible hazard of cybercrime. Given these requirements, online businesses and platforms should have an age verification mechanism on their websites. 

Age Verification Scanner

An online solution that verifies the age of an onboarding user and gives him access to services or products according to his age. Currently, there are many methods of verifying user age. Let’s have a deeper look into them:

Traditional or Onsite Age Verification

A minor goes to the tobacco shop and asks for a cigarette. The shopkeeper will manually analyze the age by just looking at the physique and face of the customer. Although this method looks outdated and non-practical, it is still used in some countries. 

This method was updated to onsite document verification a few years back. Now the customer also has to present his ID card to the shopkeeper to buy adult-related products. But what if the store also has a website, this method is useless? Also, how will the shopkeeper verify the document’s authenticity? These questions should be answered in this fast-moving era for future development.

Online Age Checkbox

This method is mostly used by websites giving casual information. A consent note appears on the user screen; the user just has to tick the box before accessing further data. This method is as easy to bypass as a piece of cake. Anyone can click on the checkbox without any difficulty. 

Verification Through DoB

In this method, a calendar appears on the user’s screen, where he has to select his birthday, month, and year. The website automatically calculates the age and checks that it is in the required range or not.

KYC – Age Verification

I know your customer, the user has to upload an image of the ID document to the website. It extracts the birth date from the documents and performs age verification on them. This method is both for in-store and e-shopping. It also verifies the authenticity of the document verification through multiple checks. 

The age verification software can also be used for further examinations like identity verification. In this digital era, it is the most effective way of verifying customers’ ages as it conducts all the verification remotely. 

Industries That Need Digital Age Verification 

E-commerce

As they sell their products online, other methods of verifying the age are not compatible. They should do a KYC-Age Verification and integrate this process while checking out. When the customer is nearly to end his purchase, he must undergo age verification.

They sell products that are not for children, these products should have the restriction of verifying age before booking his order.

Online Pharmacies

Online pharmacies sell drugs and medicines that can seriously harm minors’ health if inappropriately taken. Some of them are also prescribed-only drugs that need to be marketed only with a doctor’s prescription. 

Social Media Platforms

Children often became the victim of cyberbullying and harassment on social media platforms. The reason is there is no age filter on these websites. An adult can easily communicate with a kid and harass or bully him. Also, minors can be exposed to abusive language which can affect their well-being. 

E-gaming Websites

Minors mostly play e-games instead of physical sports and adults use this for scamming. For instance, during gameplay, anyone can face abusive and offensive behavior and their account can be hacked through phishing attacks. Since minors are not acquainted with such events, they are more prone to falling prey to these instances.

Summing It Up

It is the moral responsibility of businesses to have an age identifier to protect kids from the problems. It seems to be a difficult task, but in fact not, because online age verification eased the process. There is no need to hire an employee for verifying user ages. 

The results are delivered in seconds making the process fast. It is also expected that user age verification is going to be a mandatory regulation. An online business can also comply with it through digital age verification.