How the age check works on each service

Why the same service can show you a different check

Which method you are offered often depends on the device and the account rather than the service alone. An iPhone or an Android phone can pass a device-level age signal to an app; a console account may already hold a date of birth; a paid account may carry a card the service can check against. That is why two people can be asked for different things on the same day, on the same app.

Selfie estimation is not the same as a photo ID

A facial age estimate predicts an age band from an image without matching you to a document. A photo ID check reads an identity document and usually compares it with a selfie. They collect different things and are often run by different vendors, and each service page records which one applies to which route. What each method collects, and what Ofcom has said about it, is on the methods pages.

Before you upload anything

The vendor running the check is usually not the service you are using, and what that vendor says it keeps is published in some cases and not in others. We have quoted every published retention statement we could find, and named every route where none exists, on what happens to your ID. If you are wondering why the check appeared at all, that is on why you are being asked.

This directory publishes information about companies, not individuals. It does not process personal data of people who verify their age.