Every year, Safer Internet Day raises awareness of the importance of a safer and better internet for all. Starting as an initiative of the EU in 2004, Safer Internet Day is now recognised in over 190 countries and territories around the world.
The theme this year, ‘Inspiring Change’ brings to light an important question: how can we inspire change which improves online safety for young people?
One of the ways Yoti is helping to change the internet for the better, is through our work with Kids Web Services (KWS), the leading parent verification and consent management toolset. KWS offers parents flexible ways to provide parental consent and verify their adult status. Once a parent or guardian has proved they are an adult, they can then review the settings and features of a particular game or app and determine whether or not to grant permission for their child to access the service. This helps children access online content and experiences that are age-appropriate.
Last year, we worked with KWS to integrate our facial age estimation technology into their toolset, giving parents another way to verify their age. Facial age estimation offers adults a secure way of proving they are over a certain age, without sharing their name, requiring an identity document or ownership of a credit card
In the time since integrating Yoti into KWS, generally over 70% of parents have chosen facial age estimation as their method of verification, in the countries where it is available.
Over 4.5 million parents have successfully used facial age estimation to prove their age to grant parental consent online. Our technology has also stopped over 3.5 million young people who attempted to pass the 25+ adult age check, and detected 650,000 attempts to ‘spoof’ or beat the age estimation system. That’s millions of children who are more protected from accessing content and features that require parental consent.
Giving parents an inclusive and private way to prove their age
Safer Internet Day is a great way to get more people talking about online safety and to inspire change. We’re proud to support this important day and play our part in creating a safer digital world.
Facial age estimation provides an accurate, privacy-preserving and inclusive method to ensure that the person providing consent is an adult.
- Privacy-preserving – no identity documents or personal information required. This both respects the privacy of adults and unlocks age-appropriate experiences for younger audiences.
- Inclusive – more parents, especially those without an identity document or credit card, can grant parental consent for their children. This helps more children have a safer, positive, age appropriate online experience.
- Robust and accurate – our facial age estimation has anti-spoofing technology which prevents children from holding up a photo or video of their parent or guardian to pass the age check. This makes it a robust solution which can strengthen online age checks.
Julie Dawson, Chief Regulatory and Policy Officer at Yoti commented, “We’re delighted to continue our work with KWS helping parents to manage their family’s digital experience in a quick, inclusive and straightforward way, without compromising their privacy or personal data. With more parents empowered to give parental consent, more children can participate in age-appropriate experiences online. This is a cornerstone of a safer internet that we’re working together to build.”
Safer Internet Day is a great way to get more people talking about online safety and to inspire change. We’re proud to support this important day and play our part in creating a safer digital world.