Age checks are becoming law worldwide. The question is no longer whether platforms verify age, but what happens to the faces they collect -- and whether they need to collect them at all.
By Ricardo Amper, Founder & CEO, Incode Technologies
More than 30 age assurance laws are now in force worldwide. The UK is enforcing the Online Safety Act's "highly effective" age check requirement, with restrictions on under-16 access to social media planned for spring 2027.
Australia's under-16 rules took effect in December, and the government has signaled its intent to double maximum fines to $99 million after early waves of non-compliance. Brazil's Digital ECA became enforceable in March 2026, now half of U.S. states now mandate some form of age verification.
Facial age estimation has emerged as one of the most accessible ways to comply. It needs no government ID and no database lookup, which makes it workable for users of all age groups, including those with no documents to show.
