Improving Age-Gating with Real-Time Age Verification

Improving Age-Gating with Real-Time Age Verification

In the modern digital landscape, the relationship between platform builders and consumers is defined by two conflicting demands: the pursuit of a seamless onboarding or purchasing process and the absolute compliance obligation to verify the consumer meets the legal age requirement.

For years, digital platforms, content sites, and e-commerce merchants selling age-restricted goods (like tobacco and alcohol) relied on simple questions such as “Are you 18 (or 13 or 21)?” This practice, known as age gating, is easily bypassed with a simple click or falsified information, rendering it completely ineffective for true compliance and protection.

Today, this method of self-declaration is no longer sufficient. Beyond safeguarding against massive financial penalties and legal liabilities, robust age verification is a critical tool in preventing irreversible harm to vulnerable populations. Platforms have an ethical duty to protect the physical and mental well-being of their consumers, shield younger individuals from inappropriate goods, content, or interactions, and mitigate financial exploitation.

Regulatory and Financial Compliance Imperatives

The primary pressure for robust age verification comes directly from global regulatory bodies now imposing severe penalties for non-compliance. Many of these legislative mandates have recently been enacted or are currently going into effect:

• Data Protection (COPPA/GDPR): Compliance with laws like the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) strictly prohibits collecting personal data from minors without verifiable parental consent. Failure results in massive fines; GDPR penalties have exceeded $5 billion globally.
• EU Digital Services Act (DSA): This sweeping legislation demands that Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) implement “effective age verification” measures to mitigate systemic risks to minors, making superficial checks inadequate.
• State-Level U.S. Momentum: Multiple U.S. states (e.g., Utah, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas) have passed or proposed laws requiring social media and adult content sites to use “true age verification” before granting access, signaling a clear national trend.
• Online Gambling and Betting: The minimum legal age for real-money participation is strictly 18 in most global jurisdictions but is 21 in the majority of U.S. states. These mandates are enforced through comprehensive Know Your Customer (KYC) obligations, requiring operators to use robust third-party verification to confirm a player’s date of birth against government-issued documents. Failure results in severe penalties, including multi-million dollar fines and the revocation of operating licenses.
• Controlled Goods E-commerce: The online sale of tobacco and alcohol faces stringent global and local regulatory mandates, including the Tobacco 21 (T21) federal law in the U.S. and typical 18-and-over standards across the EU and Asia. Consequences of non-compliance can result in hefty fines, license suspension or revocation, civil liabilities, and even misdemeanor charges for sellers.

Moving Towards a Smarter Age-Gating

Today, the most effective online age verification solutions are not invasive or full of friction, but advanced, privacy-protecting, and seamless technologies that can accurately verify a consumer’s age, achieving the required balance between consumer experience and compliance.

The Zumigo approach checks the age of a consumer against authoritative data sources, including government-issued documents, before allowing them to proceed to the next step.

Here is how the system works:

1. After the consumer submits their mobile phone number, name, and address on the service web page or online store, the business securely sends this information to Zumigo, along with the required age limit rule.
2. Zumigo calculates the age of the consumer against authoritative sources, and returns a True or False value based on the rule.
3. If True, the age limitation is verified, and the transaction or sign-up process can proceed seamlessly.
4. If False, the transaction or sign-up process will be rerouted for the next step, such as manual review or termination, as determined by the business’s risk policies.
5. Zumigo can also detect whether a disposable phone number is being used for age verification as disposable phone numbers are often used to circumvent age-gating systems.

Zumigo solution provides instant, highly accurate results with low consumer friction, while maintaining a strong emphasis on privacy. With Zumigo, businesses can safely and quickly verify the consumer’s age to protect minors and the elderly, and comply with all necessary regulations.

Age verification no longer needs to be a friction-filled barrier to users. With the right approach, it can form a foundation for regulation compliance, ethical responsibility, and financial sustainability. Implementing a robust, seamless solution is the only way for digital content, e-commerce, and gaming sites to ensure they are building a safe, compliant, and trustworthy ecosystem for consumers of all ages.

Yu-Ting Huang is Sr. Director of Marketing at Zumigo. Comment or questions? Find her at on LinkedIn @yutinghuang.