Online age verification : government legislation; supplier responsibilization; public perceptions
Jarvie, Chelsea and Renaud, Karen (2024) Online age verification : government legislation; supplier responsibilization; public perceptions. Children, 11 (9). 1068. ISSN 2227-9067 (https://doi.org/10.3390/children11091068)
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Abstract
There are widespread concerns about the online harms to children operating online. As such, governments have enacted laws to require online service providers to deploy age verification to prevent such harms. We investigate the following three research questions regarding this topic: (1) To what extent have different governments legislated age verification controls? (2) Do governments embrace a responsibilization strategy when it comes to online age verification? and (3) How does the UK public feel about online age verification legislation? We find that governments are applying a responsibilization strategy, which has led to widespread deployment of privacy-invasive or ineffective age verification. The former violates the privacy of underage users, with the latter undermining the overarching aims of the legislation. We have also found general disengagement and a lack of trust in the government amongst the public with regards to new online age verification laws within the UK. To conclude, despite governments globally looking to put more robust online age verification mechanisms in place, there remains a general lack of privacy preservation and affordable technological solutions. Moreover, the overarching aims of the online safety and age verification legislative changes may not be satisfied due to the general public stakeholder group’s disengagement and lack of trust in their government.
ORCID iDs
Jarvie, Chelsea and Renaud, Karen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7187-6531;-
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Item type: Article ID code: 90355 Dates: DateEvent30 August 2024Published22 August 2024AcceptedSubjects: Department: Faculty of Science > Computer and Information Sciences Depositing user: Pure Administrator Date deposited: 26 Aug 2024 14:19 Last modified: 07 Oct 2024 07:13 Related URLs: URI: https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/90355