New Regulations Will Require Stronger Age Verification Tools in EU, UK: Jumio

Jumio is flagging regulatory changes in Europe that are going to have a big impact on the social and online gaming industries.

In a new post on the company’s website, Claire Galbois-Alcaix, Jumio’s Senior Marketing Director for the EMEA region, highlights developments in Germany, France, and the UK that will place a particular emphasis on the protection of children online.

In Germany, new regulations will take effect this coming July that will require online gaming and gambling operators to restrict access to adults only. The country’s Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz has established a list of age verification vendors to ensure compliance – a list that includes Jumio, thanks to the company’s sophisticated biometric identity and age verification platform.

Meanwhile, France has dramatically expanded the purview of its gambling regulator, l’Autorité nationale des Jeux; and the organization is currently finalizing regulatory frameworks aimed at protecting minors, fighting gambling addiction, and preventing fraud.

In the UK, the incoming Age Appropriate Design Code – slated to take effect in September – will establish strong baseline protections for the data of children under the age of 18. Like the regulations in France and Germany, this will also compel companies operating online to verify whether users are minors.

All of which will make a strong case for the solutions offered by biometrics specialists like Jumio, which can use facial recognition to match online users to official identity documents with minimal friction. Indeed, a number of companies may conclude that such age verification systems are indispensable in 2021 and beyond.

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January 6, 2020 – by Alex Perala