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In today’s digital world, ensuring accurate age verification without compromising user privacy is one of the biggest challenges. Online platforms, gaming companies, e-commerce businesses and anyone supplying age-restricted content must comply with strict regulations while maintaining a seamless user experience.
Yet traditional age verification methods mainly rely on centralised databases and the sharing of personal data, which create a host of privacy risks and compliance concerns. Since our inception, Privately SA Age Assurance solutions have run only on the end user’s device for effective ‘privacy by design’.
At Privately SA, sticking to our company DNA of ‘privacy by design’ on the end user's device, we are pioneering a blockchain-based Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) framework. This uses Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP) for age gate by service and content provider, balancing compliance requirements and usability.
We believe it’s a game-changer. Here’s a closer look at how our ZKP-powered system (in partnership with Privado ID) enhances privacy and usability while addressing key business challenges, including billing and monetisation models.
Why SSI matters for age verification
Most age verification solutions require users to share at least some of their personal data with the business with which they are engaging. This creates risks of data breaches, non-compliance, and user mistrust if those instances occur.
Furthermore, users do not want to be verified each time they engage with a new service provider. Currently, people use a centralised third party, such as a digital ID holder. Blockchain, with its Decentralised Ledger Technology (DLT), eliminates this issue by allowing users to store their age credentials in their own digital wallet, controlling precisely who they share their information with.
Using ZKP, users can prove they meet a particular age requirement without revealing their age or any personal data. This is how it works:
- An Issuer (e.g., a trusted identity provider) estimates the user’s age and issues an encrypted age credential to their wallet.
- The User presents a ZKP to a Verifier (e.g., an online platform) to gain access to age-restricted content.
- The Verifier only sees that the user meets the age requirement—not their actual age or personal details.
This privacy-first approach is GDPR-compliant and ideal for industries like gaming, social media, adult content and more, where age-restricted content must be securely gated without compromising user privacy.
Solving the business model challenge: who pays for age verification?
One of the biggest challenges for new blockchain-based age assurance is the question of who covers the costs of verification. In current blockchain models, users often bear the burden, which discourages adoption. After all, why should a consumer pay to prove their age?
Our desired model ensures a low or no-cost experience for users while enabling issuers and verifiers to sustain the system:
- Users should experience low or no fees when obtaining age credentials.
- Verifiers are willing to pay to ensure a seamless, compliant user experience.
- Issuers need a way to track ZKP verifications for billing purposes without violating privacy principles.
This model ensures businesses can seamlessly integrate age verification into their offering and proposition, all the while maintaining a sustainable cost structure.
Next steps: the future of age assurance
We know the importance of effective, risk-free and compliant age assurance and feel that this solution can lay at its core. We are working with leading blockchain-based ZKP providers to refine and scale this system. Our roadmap includes:
- Partnering with further blockchain-based ZKP providers to expand and enhance our ecosystem.
- Onboarding more verifiers to grow wider industry adoption and test new commercial models.
- Exploring additional use cases beyond age assurance, such as identity verification for financial services or user uniqueness.
- User experience (UX) improvements, ensuring seamless integration into digital wallets.
By combining blockchain, SSI and ZKPs, we can enter a new era of privacy-preserving digital identity. If you're interested in partnering with us or exploring how this technology can enhance your business’s compliance strategy, get in touch today.
