Introduction: Why DAAA?
Robert Cunningham, ICMEC Global Head of Policy
The Digital Age Assurance Act is Necessary to Protect Children in the Online World
I have had several different career paths over the last 20 years; however, each of the most important jobs to me have centered around protecting children. Whether this was through physically supporting children while I was a teacher or advocating for protecting children online as the Chief Executive Officer of ICMEC, I strongly believe that there are tools that need to be adopted in order to more effectively protect our children.
When I was growing up in Central Pennsylvania, stranger danger was a simple phrase that we all understood—don’t accept candy from strangers, don’t get into their cars, don’t open the door to them, and be aware of who is around you so you will notice when someone seems out of place. As the local prison warden, my father was a central figure in the county law enforcement association, and I vividly remember the child safety activities they sponsored, like police officers visiting my schools and town wide campaigns at Halloween. It was very clear who adults were warning us about. Today, our children meet strangers every day online, often without realizing it. They may believe they are interacting with other kids their own age, in places they think are safe.
In this new digital world, the dangers are more elusive, but no less real. Our online world is rapidly evolving, minors have unprecedented access to content at their fingertips. According to Pew Research Center, a staggering 95% of U.S. teens have access to smartphones. Protecting young people online has become more urgent than ever.
We, at the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), strive to influence and inspire the global community across governments, industries, and non-governmental organizations to do what is needed to protect children from online sexual exploitation and abuse and to safeguard them from harm.
We strongly believe the best way for us to serve children and parents alike is to actively engage with policymakers, industry leaders, NGOs, and law enforcement individuals who are genuinely committed to practical solutions for building a safer world for all children.
That’s why, we, have worked tirelessly to find a much-needed solution that strikes a balance between protecting minors online and safeguarding personal information—an issue that has long challenged governments.
Although we come from different backgrounds and industries, we all could agree that a uniform, system-wide tech solution is possible and already exists today. We believe that the most effective and privacy-protective way of achieving age assurance is at the point of access, on devices themselves.
Instead of leaving millions of websites or apps to implement their own age-verification systems—which would vary widely in quality and reliability—we are calling on governments to introduce an industry-wide solution where all online services are held to the same consistent standard, and mandate that manufacturers of devices determine or estimate the age of the device’s primary user as soon as a device is activated. Once activated, websites, applications, application stores, and online services would be provided with an age range digital signal regarding whether an individual is under the age of 18. This would ensure that children are not being exposed to mature content, regardless of the application or website they are using.
For parents, this is a game-changer. Not only would the law ensure a uniform and effective age-verification system across the board and across borders, but it also empowers parents and caregivers by giving them more control over their children’s online activity.
Critics of this idea might argue that it places an undue burden on device manufacturers or infringes on privacy by collecting age data. What we are proposing was crafted with these concerns in mind. We believe governments can mandate that manufacturers implement commercially reasonable and technically feasible steps—meaning the requirements are not so stringent as to overwhelm companies and can be executed using technology that already exists today. Furthermore, we prioritize user privacy by requiring age verification only once, within operating systems we already trust with our personal data, instead of across multiple sites all using their own individual age assurance methods.
By creating a solution that works across all industries, we could not only enhance child safety online but also level the playing field for all online platforms. No longer would some companies bear the brunt of regulatory scrutiny while others sidestep it. All services, whether apps, websites or devices, would be held to a consistent standard.
Parental controls and age verification measures that have been introduced over the last decade are not working. Relying on website-based age assurance, is ineffective and could lead to downstream harm for children and adults alike, plus generates serious privacy and constitutional concerns for all.
We ask that you read the Digital Age Assurance Act and the resources linked within this page, to learn about our proposed solution for device-based age verification. If you agree with what you have read, please feel free to share our social media resources on your own platforms and reach out to your legislators to ask them to consider the Digital Age Assurance Act of 2024. We all can and must play a role in keeping the internet safe for everyone, especially children.