# age-verification

Source: https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/age-verification/
Last updated: 2026-10-17
License: content by Start with Identity. Cite the source URL.

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Age verification is a check that establishes a user's exact age, or that they are over a threshold such as 18, from an authoritative source like a government ID, a digital identity credential or a bank record. It is one form of age assurance; the other is age estimation, which infers an age or age range from signals such as a face image.

The UK [Online Safety Act 2023](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/50/section/230) draws that line in law: age verification is any measure "designed to verify the exact age" of users, age estimation estimates "the age or age-range", and self-declaration alone counts as neither, while sections 12 and 81 require checks that are "highly effective at correctly determining whether or not a particular user is a child", with Ofcom's guidance published in January 2025 ([GOV.UK](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/online-safety-act-explainer/online-safety-act-explainer)). In the EU, the Commission's [age-verification blueprint](https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/commission-releases-enhanced-second-version-age-verification-blueprint) (second version, October 2025) lets a user prove they are over 18 "without revealing any personal information, not even their exact age", is built on the [EUDI Wallet](https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/eudi-wallet/) specifications, and is being piloted by Denmark, France, Greece, Italy and Spain. In the US, the Supreme Court upheld Texas's H.B. 1181 age-verification law for adult sites under intermediate scrutiny in [Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-1122_3e04.pdf) (June 27, 2025), noting that many states regulate in this area. The identity question is how much the check discloses: uploading an ID to every site creates a data trove, while an over-18 claim from a wallet or [mobile driver's license](https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/mobile-drivers-license/) using [selective disclosure](https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/selective-disclosure/) or a [zero-knowledge proof](https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/zero-knowledge-proof/) proves only the threshold.

See also: [identity verification](https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/idv/), [selective disclosure](https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/selective-disclosure/), [zero-knowledge proof](https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/zero-knowledge-proof/), [mobile driver's license](https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/mobile-drivers-license/), [identity verification vendors](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/identity-verification/)