UK Online Safety Act

UK OSA age-verification toolkit
highly-effective age-assurance · Ofcom-aligned · 30 day rollout

From 25 July 2025 the UK Online Safety Act requires "highly-effective age assurance" on every pornographic platform reachable from a UK IP. Self-declaration ("I am 18") doesn't count any more. Our toolkit gives you Ofcom-recognized methods — credit-card check, photo-ID + selfie liveness, face-age estimation, mobile-network operator check — selectable per user with a single embed.

Submit · Get early-access How it works ↓
4
Ofcom-aligned methods
30 days
platform rollout
£18M
max fine avoided
zero
data retained
The Problem

What the UK OSA actually requires

Ofcom Guidance Section 6 lists four "highly-effective" methods: photo-ID + facial-match, credit-card check, mobile-network-operator check, and digital ID wallet. "Self-declaration" and "click to confirm" are explicitly listed as NOT effective. Platforms have until 17 January 2026 to comply or face £18M / 10% of global turnover.

DimensionToday's status quoWhat we're building
UK trafficGeo-block UK (lose ~7% of US revenue too via VPN)Highly-effective AV for UK IPs only — no global lock-down
Method selectionOne vendor offers one method (fails 5–15% of users)4 methods, user picks — abandonment drops to ~3%
Data retentionVendor retains photos / docs 30 days+Zero-retention proof: hash only, photos destroyed in <60s
Ofcom auditEngineering scramble to assemble evidenceOfcom-ready audit log + methodology statement on demand
Cost per check$1–2 per verification$0.15 avg per check (mix of methods, no full-KYC overspend)
How it works

How the UK OSA toolkit works in production

🪪
Photo-ID + selfie liveness
Yoti / Persona behind one embed. User uploads passport / driving license + a liveness selfie. Match ≥0.95 confidence required. Decision <8s p95.
💳
Credit-card check
$0.30 micro-auth on a credit card. UK credit cards require 18+ by issuer. Fast (~3s) and cheap. Fallback when ID method declined.
📱
Mobile-network-operator check
MNO confirms age-18 status via SS7 query. Pre-paid SIMs excluded. Works for ~78% of UK mobile users with no UI friction.
📊
Face-age estimation
Optional first-pass: on-device face-age estimate (Yoti FaceTec). If confidently ≥25, no document needed. Below threshold, fall back to ID method.
Validate demand

Get the OSA-compliance bundle — wired in 30 days

Submit your platform + UK traffic share. We'll wire the toolkit in <30 days + provide the Ofcom methodology statement. Early-access platforms (first 100) get $0.10/check pricing locked for 12 months instead of $0.25 standard.

Validation form — no spam, no auto-newsletter. We email you only to confirm next steps.
FAQ

Common questions

Is 'self-declaration' really dead in the UK?
Yes — Ofcom Guidance Section 6 explicitly lists self-declaration as NOT "highly-effective". The deadline was 17 January 2026 for full compliance. Enforcement has begun; Ofcom has named multiple platforms in initial investigations.
What about VPN users from the UK?
Ofcom Guidance is clear: platforms are expected to use "reasonably available" signals (IP, device, billing address) to detect UK users. VPN-hopping users are out of scope unless your signals indicate UK. Don't over-engineer.
How is privacy handled?
Zero-retention mode by default — we receive ID + selfie, run the check, return a hash. Photos / docs destroyed within 60s. No PII leaves the vendor's GDPR-compliant infrastructure. Audit log is hash-only.
What about EU users (similar laws coming)?
We're tracking 8 EU jurisdictions with age-verification draft legislation (Germany JuSchG, France, Italy, Spain). The same toolkit handles those when laws activate — one embed, configurable per jurisdiction.
Pricing?
$0.10–$0.15 per check on the early-access bundle (mix of methods). After: $0.25 / check. Methodology statement + Ofcom audit support: $2K one-time setup, $499/mo retainer. No per-verification minimum.

Stop being one Ofcom letter away from a £18M fine

Submit your platform + UK traffic share. First 100 get $0.10/check pricing locked for 12 months + methodology statement included.

Submit · Get early-access
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