An internal briefing session for Heads of Delegation (and their Deputies) attending in person in Amsterdam. The aim will be to provide information about the plans for the day and how the delegation activities will progress.

🔹 Cross-Border Interoperability of Age Assurance Solutions

How can G20 nations harmonize age verification across international platforms while respecting local regulatory frameworks? Should there be a G20-recognized certification framework for global age assurance providers? How can G20 nations ensure mutual recognition of age-verified digital identities while maintaining privacy and security?

🔹 The Role of Big Tech & Platforms in Enforcing Age Assurance

Are social media, gaming, and e-commerce platforms doing enough to self-regulate in age verification? Should governments mandate age assurance standards for all digital platforms operating in G20 markets? Can AI-driven age verification be trusted and regulated, or does it create new risks?

🔹 Balancing Child Protection & Data Privacy in Age Assurance Systems

How can G20 nations develop privacy-preserving age verification (e.g., decentralized, zero-knowledge proof systems)? Are current laws (e.g., COPPA in the US, GDPR in the EU) sufficient to protect children online? How can we create incentives for businesses to implement ethical and effective age verification without harming user experience?

A session from IEEE explaining the benefits of a global certification scheme for age assurance systems.

A presentation from Scytales on the development of a new EU-wide age verification app

🔹 Implementation of the Digital Services Act (DSA) & Age Verification

How does the DSA’s requirement for online platforms to prevent child exploitation impact age assurance obligations? Should there be an EU-wide framework for age assurance certification, ensuring interoperability across all member states? What role should the eIDAS 2.0 framework and digital wallets play in standardizing age verification?

🔹 Balancing Fundamental Rights with Age Assurance Mandates

How do age assurance requirements align with EU privacy laws (e.g., GDPR’s minimization principle) while ensuring children’s safety? Should the EU impose a universal obligation on all online platforms to implement age verification, or should it be sector-specific? Is biometric age verification compliant with EU human rights and non-discrimination laws?

🔹 Age Assurance & the Emerging AI Act: The Risks and Opportunities

Should the AI Act classify age verification tools (e.g., facial age estimation) as high-risk AI systems, and what are the implications? How can the EU monitor AI-driven age verification while ensuring that bias and discrimination are minimized? Can standardized AI ethics frameworks help harmonize age assurance solutions across Europe?

A presentation from Connect ID about Australian leadership of age assurance technology trials and development

🔹 Digital Identity and Age Verification Challenges in Developing Markets

How can low-resource countries implement effective age assurance solutions without extensive digital infrastructure? What role should national digital ID systems (e.g., Kenya’s Huduma Namba, Nigeria’s NIN) play in age verification? How can global stakeholders support capacity-building initiatives for digital age assurance in emerging markets?

🔹 Affordability & Accessibility: Are Age Assurance Standards Excluding the Global South?

Are current age verification solutions designed for wealthy, digitally advanced nations leaving out large parts of the Global South? Should international organizations create a low-cost, privacy-first age assurance model suitable for low-connectivity regions? How can developing nations ensure child protection in online spaces when many children share devices with adults?

🔹 Regulatory Harmonization & Cross-Border Challenges

How can African nations create a regional framework for age verification that aligns with the AU’s Digital Transformation Strategy? Should age assurance be integrated into existing cybersecurity and digital rights policies across the Global South? How can global standards be localized to address diverse legal, cultural, and technological contexts?

An internal briefing session for Heads of Delegation (and their Deputies) attending in person in Amsterdam. The aim will be to provide information about the plans for the day and how the delegation activities will progress.

🔹 Balancing Age Assurance with Privacy & Data Minimization

How can regulators enforce age assurance without excessive data collection, ensuring compliance with GDPR, COPPA, and other privacy laws? Should biometric age estimation be permitted under privacy laws, or does it constitute excessive surveillance of minors? What are the best practices for zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) and privacy-preserving age assurance technologies?

🔹 Regulatory Divergence: Can Global Standards on Children’s Data Align?

How can regulators harmonize age assurance requirements across divergent legal frameworks (e.g., EU’s GDPR-K, US COPPA, India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act)? Should there be a global certification standard for privacy-compliant age verification? What role should privacy regulators play in overseeing the effectiveness and compliance of age verification technologies?

🔹 Digital Platforms Accountability: Should Privacy Regulators Have a Greater Role?

Should privacy regulators mandate that platforms proactively implement age assurance to protect children’s data? How can regulators effectively audit and enforce compliance without being overly burdensome? What sanctions should be imposed on non-compliant platforms failing to implement robust age assurance?

🔹 Mandating Age Assurance for High-Risk Content: Who Should Be Responsible?

Should content regulators impose universal age verification for platforms hosting harmful or adult content (e.g., pornography, gambling, violent media)? How can regulators prevent circumvention of age verification measures by minors? Should platforms bear full responsibility, or should governments enforce legal mandates?

🔹 Effectiveness of Current Age Verification Measures: Are They Working?

How can content regulators ensure that age verification methods are robust and fit for purpose across different platforms? What is happening with the Australian Age Assurance Technology Trial? Should facial recognition and AI-based age estimation be permitted for content access, or do they introduce new risks? How can regulators collaborate with industry and civil society to define effective age assurance policies?

🔹 AI & Content Moderation: The Future of Age-Restricted Content Enforcement

Can AI-driven content moderation be a viable alternative or complement to age verification? How can regulators ensure that AI systems used for age filtering and access control are accurate, unbiased, and privacy-compliant? Should regulators impose standardized thresholds for what constitutes "harmful" online content requiring age assurance?

🔹 Digital Age Verification for Retail & E-Commerce: How Should It Be Standardized?

How can product regulators ensure consistent age verification enforcement for online vs. in-store purchases of age-restricted goods? Should government-backed digital identity solutions (e.g., eID, digital wallets) be used for verifying age in alcohol, tobacco, and weapons sales? How can regulators prevent the use of fake IDs and proxy purchases in online sales?

🔹 Interoperability & Mutual Recognition of Age Verification Across Borders

Should e-commerce platforms be required to mutually recognize verified age credentials across countries? How can regulators prevent minors from exploiting regulatory gaps in cross-border sales of age-restricted products? Should age verification solutions be certified under international standards (e.g., ISO 27566, IEEE 2089.1)?

🔹 Retailer & Platform Accountability: Strengthening Enforcement & Compliance

Should retailers and platforms face harsher penalties for failing to implement effective age assurance? How can mystery shopping and compliance testing be scaled for online and in-store environments? What role should AI, biometrics, and real-time identity verification play in the future of retail compliance?

An internal briefing session for Heads of Delegation (and their Deputies) attending in person in Amsterdam. The aim will be to provide information about the plans for the day and how the delegation activities will progress.

🔹 Interoperability & Standardization: The Key to Global Acceptance

Should the industry push for mutual recognition of age verification methods across different jurisdictions? How can age verification providers align with global standards (e.g., ISO 27566, IEEE 2089.1, AgeAware) to create interoperable solutions? What are the barriers to cross-border age verification acceptance, and how can they be addressed?

🔹 AI & Biometric Age Estimation: The Future or a Privacy Nightmare?

Can biometric age estimation be scaled without compromising user privacy and regulatory compliance? What role does AI bias play in age assurance, and how can providers ensure fairness and accuracy? Should age estimation be classified as a high-risk AI system under global regulatory frameworks (e.g., EU AI Act, UK Online Safety Bill)?

🔹 Balancing Business Viability with Regulatory Demands

How can age verification providers offer affordable, scalable solutions while ensuring compliance with stringent regulations? Should regulators and the AVPA collaborate to create a certification or accreditation process for compliant providers? What are the challenges in achieving widespread adoption of privacy-preserving age verification solutions?

🔹 The Need for an Accredited Certification Framework for Age Assurance

Should there be a global accreditation scheme for age verification providers, ensuring trust and compliance? How can third-party certification bodies help standardize the testing and auditing of age verification solutions? What lessons can be learned from other compliance-driven industries (e.g., cybersecurity, fintech) in establishing certification?

🔹 Ensuring Accountability in Age Assurance through Independent Audits

Should online platforms and retailers be legally required to use independently certified age assurance solutions? How can the certification process ensure compliance with privacy laws, data security standards, and non-discrimination? What penalties should apply to non-certified solutions that fail to meet regulatory standards?

🔹 Industry vs. Government-Led Certification: Who Should Take the Lead?

Should governments mandate certification schemes, or should the industry develop voluntary but widely accepted standards? How can the example of the ACCS, JAS-ANZ, and Standards Australia project collaborate to develop a credible, internationally recognized certification framework? What incentives can be offered to businesses that adopt certified age verification solutions?

🔹 Advocating for Age Assurance to Protect Children from Online Harm

Should governments require age verification for all platforms hosting user-generated content to prevent child exploitation? How can platforms ensure that age verification does not become a barrier to child safety reporting? Should there be legally binding obligations on platforms to adopt age assurance in line with global online safety laws (e.g., UK Online Safety Act, EU DSA, US KOSA)?

🔹 Privacy-Preserving Age Assurance: Can We Have Both Safety & Anonymity?

Can zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) and decentralized identity models provide effective age assurance while preserving privacy? Should biometric age estimation be deployed in child protection, and how can risks of misuse and overreach be mitigated? How can NGO’s advocate for child safety without endorsing intrusive or mass surveillance-based solutions?

🔹 Global Cooperation & Cross-Border Enforcement of Age Assurance Measures

How can law enforcement and child protection agencies collaborate with age verification providers to combat online child abuse? Should there be a global standard for reporting child safety violations related to age assurance non-compliance? How can NGOs work with tech companies, governments, and NGOs to promote best practices in age assurance?