"Face Based Age Verification: Age Authentication Using Facial Recognition" Without an ID
The European Union (EU) Commission recently announced a pilot program for an app that verifies user age on online platforms. The app will be introduced in five countries Denmark, Greece, Spain, France, and Italy and will allow users to prove they are 18 or older to access adult content, using either an ID or Face-Based Age Verification.
This attempt is more than a simple technological experiment; it addresses the global challenge of "how to implement age verification in the digital environment." Traditional ID submission methods are prone to errors due to outdated photos or forgery issues, and platforms have struggled to balance regulatory compliance with a seamless user experience.
This is precisely where ARGOS’s Face Based Age Verification is gaining attention as a new alternative. This article will explore what the Face Based Age Verification feature provided by ARGOS is, how it works, and its advantages and practical value.
What is Face Based Age Verification? Age Verification by Face Recognition, Not ID!
Face Based Age Verification, as the name suggests, is a digital authentication technology that uses a user's face to determine their identity and age. Unlike methods with a risk of loss or forgery, such as physical IDs (resident registration cards, passports, etc.) or passwords, the face is unique biometric information, offering both security and convenience.
Most people use the same ID for a long time unless they lose it. Consequently, the photo on the ID can often be outdated. In such cases, a mismatch between the current face and the ID photo can lead to verification errors. This is why a Selfie-Based Verification feature can be extremely useful. Particularly for services like dating apps or social platforms where an ID check isn't strictly mandated, selfie-based verification can be a simple and intuitive means of identity confirmation.
Why is Face Based Age Verification Necessary?
Traditional age verification methods have several limitations. Simply presenting an ID or confirming a resident registration number may help with regulatory compliance, but it falls short of solving real-world problems in service operation.
Since most people use the same card for many years, the photo on the ID often differs significantly from the current face. When facial features change over time, the authentication system may fail to match them correctly, causing inconvenience for legitimate users who are mistakenly rejected.
Furthermore, forgery of the ID itself or proxy authentication attempts by minors using a parent's or sibling's ID are frequent. These practices are difficult to prevent with a simple document check and can lead to regulatory violation risks and a loss of trust for service providers.
Even when service operators want to establish more detailed age verification policies, existing systems often only allow a single standard, such as "adult/minor." For example, some content might require users to be over 18, while another service may be restricted to those over 21, necessitating more granular segmentation.
To address these issues, ARGOS has added a Face Based Age Verification feature to its user policy. By allowing administrators to directly set minimum and maximum age ranges, the feature moves beyond simple "age verification" to enable customized age policy application tailored to the service environment.
This means operators can flexibly customize age conditions according to the specific characteristics of their industry and service, while users can access the service smoothly without being blocked by unnecessary verification steps. This function simultaneously achieves two goals: regulatory compliance and enhancing user experience (UX) and service reliability.
The Process of Face Based Age Verification
Face Based Age Verification goes beyond mere face recognition; it involves a comprehensive process of age estimation and policy determination.
Face Recognition-Based Verification Procedure
Age Extraction: When a user takes a selfie with the camera, the selfie image is analyzed to extract the age. This process is completed in seconds, allowing users to start authentication simply without complex input steps.
Age Range Prediction: The user’s age range is predicted based on the selfie. ARGOS's Face Based Age Verification provides an accuracy of approximately 83% in the 15-30 age range.
Policy Application: The operator can directly set minimum (Low Value) and maximum (High Value) age conditions on the administrator dashboard. For example, if a policy like "Only users aged 19 and over are allowed" is applied, the system determines Pass or Fail based on whether the face recognition result meets the condition.
Error Compensation: By setting the Low Value / High Value, the administrator can broaden or narrow the permissible authentication range, compensating for potential errors relative to the user's actual age.
Face Based Age Verification simulation
The Diverse Scalability of Face Based Age Verification
Face Based Age Verification is more than a simple face recognition technology; it's a solution that simultaneously provides convenience, security, and operational flexibility. It creates tangible value, especially in services requiring adult or age restrictions, by overcoming the limitations of existing methods.
① Immediate Discrimination
Users can instantly complete their identity verification with just a camera. Since authentication is possible with a single selfie without requiring separate ID submission or complex procedures, it significantly reduces the drop-off rate during the sign-up or service usage process. This offers a fast and smooth user experience (UX) while helping the operator acquire and retain customers.
② Policy Flexibility
Operators can directly set the minimum and maximum age ranges in the administrator dashboard to match their service objectives.
Examples: Dating apps require age 18+, services related to alcohol/tobacco require age 21+, and specific adult content requires age 19+.
This ability to segment policies allows for the application of customized age policies that align with national/industry-specific regulations.
③ Alternative Path Support
If face-based authentication fails or is measured with low accuracy, it can be complemented with an ID check. This prevents the problem of "authentication failure → user drop-off" for the service operator and ensures compliance with regulatory procedures.
④ Prevention of Surrogate Certification
Traditional simple authentication struggled to prevent minors from attempting proxy authentication using a parent's or sibling's ID. However, Face Based Age Verification compares the face itself, making authentication impossible with someone else's ID. This effectively blocks fraudulent access or service misuse by minors.
⑤ Applicable Scalability
Face Based Age Verification can be applied across various industries and services. Age estimation can add a security layer to services like online banking, dating apps, rental services, and content platforms. In regions like Europe, self-verification alone is sometimes required!
Gaming Industry: Restriction of minor access, prevention of multi-account fraud users.
Dating Apps: Creation of a healthy environment through minimum age policies.
Metaverse, Social Universes: Building a trust foundation in virtual spaces.
Fintech and Remittance Services: Supplementing age verification procedures linked to AML regulations.
In this way, Face Based Age Verification is a core function that allows service operators to simultaneously achieve regulatory compliance + user experience + security enhancement.
Today, we've looked at Face Based Age Verification! Ultimately, Face Based Age Verification is an essential element for protecting user safety and ensuring platform reliability, not only in online dating apps but across the gaming, finance, and content industries.