Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of using device or operating-system-level age signalling to reduce the need for individual websites to collect identity documents or biometric data for the purposes of age verification under the Online Safety Act 2023; and what discussions she has had with device manufacturers on this matter.

We recognise the potential merits of safety protections at device-level, including age assurance. The Government is engaging with operating system providers and device manufacturers to make their products safer for children, including through technology to prevent children from taking, sharing or viewing nude imagery.

Ofcom’s guidance on highly effective age assurance recognises that services can use system-level age assurance approaches. However, responsibility for compliance with the Online Safety Act remains with regulated services.