Almost all businesses, including social media platforms, e-commerce, and others, are employing age verification tools to safeguard children at risk from criminal exploitation and protect minors from experiencing tragic situations.
Age Verification Solutions: Safeguarding Children at Risk from Criminal Exploitation
In the digital age, consumers can access and purchase almost anything online. It is our responsibility and obligation to keep age-restricted or age-sensitive goods and services intended for adults out of the reach of children protect minors from criminal exploitation and prevent them from falling into the trap of rising cyber attacks.
The government nowadays is working hard towards saving minors in multiple ways. They have made it compulsory for all businesses to undergo cybersecurity measures to safeguard minors. Not delivering this protection to minors can result in businesses facing a lot of troubles. That is why it is the responsibility of all organizations to adhere to the recommended regulations that would prevent minors from accessing age-restricted products.
The trend in online platforms has paved the way for minors to get easily trapped in the tricks played by fraudsters. But, by complying with the age verification solution, age-restricted businesses can assure the safety of underage individuals.
The Issues Minors Encounter Without Age Verification Solution
The advancement in technology has opened ways for children to be a part of the online world. Obviously, it is not possible for parents to look at every activity their children are performing on their cellular devices. On the other hand, children because of their innocence can get into the trap the cybercriminals have spread for them. Fraudsters can exploit minors and blackmail them to gain illegal benefits.
That is why there comes online age verification to deal with internet fraud and digital scams and make sure that children do not use the services that are designed for adults. The traditional age checks are also not appropriate to ensure the security of minors or they are simple enough to be breached by anyone.
The GDPR of Europe established rules to safeguard the data of minors. BBC News reported that TikTok (the famous content-creating platform) was allegedly when it got involved in mishandling the information of individuals. Therefore, stringent regulations and laws must be adhered to by all businesses to make sure that the rights of children are not attacked.
Let’s have a look at how age verification online works in different industries:
Age Verification Solutions in Multiple Businesses
Multiple industries have to face various challenges when it comes to age verification online. Age verification solutions offer solutions to all these businesses. Let’s see what are the different platforms that can use the regulatory services:
E-Commerce
eCommerce industry became popular when the world went into lockdown and nothing was reachable in the physical world. The COVID-19 pandemic forced people to shop online and these websites were accessible to children. All these platforms can have age-restricted products that can be grabbed by minors. Children can conveniently buy these products without informing their parents. Thus, a chargeback can be claimed by their parents on those businesses and leave them with a loss without complying with the age verification solution.
Online Gaming and Gambling
This industry picked hype during COVID-19 when people were locked down in their homes. According to law, gambling is not allowed by any individual under 18 or 21 years (depending on the country). To ensure that individuals do not fall into the habit of gambling, such online platforms need to practice age verification solutions.
Social Media Platforms
There are a lot of social media platforms these days and each one of them possesses different strategies to protect minors from being abused. After all these policies, they still are subjected to court orders and fines. While making an account on any social media platform, the individuals are identified only on age rather than verifying their face. Such systems not practicing robust age verification solutions can be manipulated easily. Cybercriminals with bad intentions can steal or hack the minors’ data and blackmail them into providing information or deploy their identities for their own advantage.
A famous movie called Home Alone exhibited how a child got boarded into the wrong plane. As the child had the credit card of his father, he deployed the card to enter the hotel and amenities while the parents were tense. It also displayed that the minor had robbers following him to obtain their own advantage. Such instances can also happen in life and can be prevented by adhering to an age verification solution.
Final Words
Industries are moving into digital platforms which means now individuals of any age have easy access to any product or service. The regulatory authorities are working together in such a situation to restrict individuals to age-appropriate products that would ultimately protect minors and assist businesses in facing any adverse consequences. Age verification solution is such a regulation designed for age-restricted platforms working globally. COPPA and various other regulatory bodies have imposed heavy fines when the industries are found violating rules consciously or unconsciously.