How to add age verification at signup without storing ID scans
Blog post from WorkOS
Age assurance is increasingly being treated as a documented identity attribute rather than a self-reported signup field, driven by regulatory developments, including a 2026 multistate attorneys general filing in Character.AI’s bankruptcy that called for verification beyond self-disclosure and broader protections for sensitive user data. The discussion argues that effective safety controls depend on reliably identifying minors, while retaining government ID scans can create substantial privacy, breach, and insolvency risks, as illustrated by the exposure of ID images collected for Discord appeals. It presents platform-issued age signals, age estimation with challenge thresholds and appeals, reusable digital credentials or open-banking confirmations, and photo-ID matching as escalating options, with ID verification reserved as a last resort. Across these methods, providers should retain only the relevant threshold, result, verification method, source details, time, expiration or revocation status, and vendor reference rather than underlying documents or biometric images. The text emphasizes that platforms remain responsible for the effectiveness, fairness, privacy, and jurisdictional compliance of their systems, including handling uncertain estimates, self-declared signals, coverage gaps, consent revocations, and restrictions on using age data for marketing or profiling.
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