Privately partners with Privado ID for privacy-focused age check

Privately SA and Privado ID have announced a partnership aimed at transforming digital age verification and identity management across various industries, including payments and finance.

Privado, previously affiliated with Polygon Labs, will integrate Privately's technology within web3 wallets to provide a privacy-first, on-device age verification method. This approach allows users to confirm their age privately on their device without sharing personal information, addressing increasing demands for privacy-preserving age-gating.

The new age verification solution aims to help industries like adult content, social media, and streaming comply with regulatory standards while protecting user privacy. Recent regulatory challenges have highlighted the need for such solutions, with notable examples being adult sites like Pornhub, which faced restrictions in certain US states due to privacy concerns, and social media platforms such as Meta, which is under scrutiny following Australia's ban on minors accessing social media.

Streaming services like Netflix and Hulu are starting to enforce age verification for accessing mature content. The new device-based solution from Privately and Privado ID will enable these sectors to implement user age verification without collecting sensitive personal data, thereby meeting compliance standards while respecting privacy.

Through this collaboration, Privado ID will incorporate Privately's Multimodal Age Estimation and reverification technologies into its marketplace ecosystem, offering a unique feature to Self-Sovereign Identity. This integration will allow users to verify their age once and use the verification across various platforms without needing to repeat the process.

Onur Yürüten, Head of Age Assurance at Privately SA, stated, "Combining our AI-driven age estimation technology with Privado ID's privacy-focused tools, creates a compelling proposition that delivers accurate age verification without compromising user privacy. We inhabit a world in which it is vital to provide age-appropriate experiences yet is also increasingly focused on privacy, so the ability for consumers to verify identity across different platforms without repeating the process is priceless."

The partnership targets industries necessitating stringent age verification, notably the adult entertainment sector, where trials are already underway. The self-sovereign identity model is designed to align with European privacy regulations that emphasize user anonymity.

Evin McMullen, Co-founder & CSO of Privado ID, commented, "This collaboration with Privately means we provide a Self-Sovereign Identity that delivers a first-class user experience while ensuring the highest levels of anonymity and security. A reusable, accurate and compliant age verification tool has wide-reaching potential in payments, gaming, blockchain and many other sectors, where secure and private age verification is critical."

The initiative also opens the path for standardising age verification within the European Identity wallet (EUDI). Both companies are engaging with governments and regulators across Europe to advocate for privacy-preserving verification methods that protect user data while ensuring regulatory compliance.