Mobile phone age verification specialists VeriMe claim to be the first tech company in the world to receive a new PAS certification for the industry.

As part of the Digital Economy Act, age verification for websites containing adult content will become mandatory in the UK from July 15.

And while the regulator – the BBFC – has issued a voluntary code for providers, VeriMe says the new PAS1296 certification goes further. It ensures information submitted by consumers cannot be retained by third-parties such as website owners or affiliate marketing companies.

Director Rudd Apsey said, “We have worked tirelessly for the last three years to ensure that our age verification technology is the most robust and secure solution available.”

“The PAS1296 certification augments the voluntary standards outlined by the BBFC, which don’t address how third-party websites handle consumer data,” Apsey added. “We believe it fills those gaps and is confirmation that VeriMe is indeed leading the world in the development and implementation of age verification technology and setting best practice standards for the industry.”

“We are incredibly proud to be the first company to receive the standard and want consumers and service providers to know that come the July 15 roll out date, they can trust VeriMe’s systems to provide the most robust solution for age verification.”

The PAS1296 was developed between the British Standards Institution and the independent regulator Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS). It stands for Public Accessible Specification and is designed to define good practice standards for a product, service or process.

Tony Allen, Chief Executive Officer at ACCS, said, “Through our combination of robust processes, custom built technology and a team of fully qualified trading standards and audit professionals, we were able to certify that VeriMe’s technology provides a robust solution for age verification. The fact that VeriMe is the first company anywhere in the world to achieve the PAS certification demonstrates its commitment to age verification and ensuring that under-18s will not have access to age restricted content.

With mobile becoming an ever-popular platform for accessing age restricted services and products, VeriMe says it’s vital for tech companies to ensure that verification processes in place are as robust as possible to prevent young people from accessing adult content. “As such, ACCS is proud to be issuing certification of VeriMe under PAS1296:2018, which ensures that the company’s age verification systems actually work in practice,” Allen explained.

VeriMe have been delivering age verification for three years across video on demand platforms, most recently to 13,000 viewers who wished to access adult content via a web portal for the Channel 4 documentary, Mum’s Make Porn.

Rudd added that, “VeriMe, provides what we believe to be the quickest and simplest route to age verification. [It] works without the need for personal documentation or credit checks to take place. A simple exchange of SMS messages with the mobile network confirms if the user has a mobile number that has been unlocked to accept adult services. The check takes on average 13 seconds to complete and is completely anonymous.”

“It is a robust and trustworthy solution, which we hope will help prevent under-18s from stumbling onto restricted content,” he stated.