The Internet has created many opportunities for the world. People can do research, take help in studies, and purchase goods without getting out of their comfort zone. However, with good impacts, the internet has also brought some bad effects on society.
One of the major concerns is children’s easy access to the internet. The content online is diverse and the one that is appropriate for someone may not be legal for others. So it is important to have an age verification solution for e-commerce. In this article, we will specifically talk about age-restricted content and products that are sold online.
According to research, 93% of teenagers between 12 and 17 years have access to the internet. With a large number of children accessing the internet regularly, governments and other such authorities have started taking notice. The rules and regulations are placed to prevent children from accessing age-restricted content. To comply with age verification rules, online retailers require age verification services on their websites. Age verification online is important to prevent underage people from browsing unsuitable content and breaking the law.
Easy access to age-restricted websites has become a concern for both parents and retailers. Many online platforms sell age-restricted products. Such as tobacco, alcohol, fireworks, e-cigarettes, and violent video games. If minor gets access to such content it could create serious problems.
By implementing age verification, online websites could restrict underage people from accessing content that is exclusively for adults and can prevent access to age-restricted products. Online Age verification solutions require the user to verify their age before entering a website. This verification is done by asking the user to upload a photo of themselves holding a government issue ID proof. And the photo on the ID is matched with the user’s picture in real-time.
Here are three reasons why online age verification should be compulsory on sites where age-restricted products or content is shown.
Filtering Real Customers
By age verification, online retailers can restrict access to legal visitors only. When the visitors are asked to verify their ages, it will be clear for the underage people that the content they want to view is age-restricted. This will make any sensible person back off. While those who still want to illegally access the content. They will need to verify age and only those who are of legal age are allowed.
To Avoid Breaking Laws
If you are dealing with products that are targeting specific age groups, then beware you are bound by law, to perform age verification. Not doing so could lead to heavy fines and in the worse scenario to imprisonment. So if you are an online retailer and do not have an age verification service, you should find a way to put age verification in your store as soon as possible.
Keeping Minors Away from your Website
If your website contains adult content, it is your legal and ethical responsibility to keep minors away from your site. Underage people having access to adult content can have adverse effects on their mental health. Moreover, goods like alcohol and tobacco can affect their physical health.
Online businesses that provide age-restricted services and products should have an age verification online. Otherwise, they could find themselves in trouble. There are third-party software and APIs that can be integrated into your website. These services use AI age verification technology to verify the age and identity of the user during the sign-in and checkout process.
When performing age verification online, the end-user is asked to upload a government-issued ID proof and a selfie. After that D.O.B is extracted from the document and based on the date of birth age is calculated. Another prominent feature that helps in mitigating fraud is to match the user uploaded a selfie with the picture on the document. In order to avoid spoofing, the liveness detection feature ensures that the customer is physically present at the time of verification.
