Online companies nowadays are under a lot of regulatory pressure to conduct age verification before they give their items over the internet. Age verification retains its significance in several sectors involving online gaming, betting, alcohol, nicotine, and online dating, etc. Due to its massive importance, it is also beneficial in the tourism sector where online fraudsters perform many sorts of identity theft. Criminals will use the stolen identities of minors to scam the tourism industry in booking trips and restaurants on behalf of the legitimate person.
Minor identity theft is pretty prevalent nowadays and is a rising concern for companies. The SSN is a proof of identity provided to a minor at the time of delivery. It is adapted to authenticate a child’s identity till the time they are listed as a legitimate citizen of the nation. Social Security Numbers are adopted to verify child identity, but if they are jeopardized, can cause, a lot of challenges. Fraudsters steal the PII data of children to perform a sequence of travel frauds. This is when online age verification becomes dire of the hour.
What is Digital Age Verification?
A procedure in which the legitimate age of a client is authenticated over the internet is known as digital age verification. It requires essential age data to verify if an individual registering to a platform is above the claimed age or not. Due to time-taking and cumbersome processes, several companies have substituted manual age gates within digital age authentication to ensure smooth and efficient procedures. It also assists in maintaining the all-vital user loyalty and global repute that assists companies in taking a competitive advantage.
Why is it Essential for Companies?
Corporate Social Responsibility
It is the moral and social responsibility of companies to not only make interest but also add significance to the market by giving age-tailored services. Retailers marketing and providing age-limited items need to authenticate the age of users before performing their tasks. An age authentication solution can assist digital stores of age-exclusive services to limit children from using items not suitable for their age. Online Age Verification not only assists in complying with the CSR but also makes a company gain significance in the hearts of regulatory authorities.
Keeping off Con Artists
Indefinite fraudsters on the internet are always in pursuance of tricking people into giving their identity data so that they can adapt it to make a monetary profit. One such instance is the travel sector where fraudsters can require PII of minors to book rides, check-in at restaurants, or go to any destination station utilizing fake information.
It gives a solution to this challenge by authenticating whether the age data given by the client is valid and submitted by the legitimate client or not. By performing a sequence of age checks like face verification and document authentication, online age verification can validate genuine clients of an appropriate age.
Apart from children, scams in retirement and old-age stocks are also a problem that age authentication can look after. False and synthetic identities adopted by criminals can be caught on the spot and reduce them from being adopted illegitimately.
Complying with Laws
Regulative laws are driving influence for performing age authentication checks at platforms and online websites. Listed below is a list of law regulators around the world that deem age authentication as a vital role of user onboarding.
1.EU
2.Financial Action Task Force
3. FinCEN
Some regulations for age authentication are also given below:
1. GDPR
2. COPPA
3. The United Kingdom Byron Review
In case of not following age verification regulations, online companies need to encounter critical and major outcomes, involving heavy fines, a loss of global repute, and user loyalty.
To conclude up, online age verification guards children against the wrongs of child identity theft and possible cybercrime. Online scams can also be reduced with age authentication checks.
