Photo ID
Also called: ID upload, document check, passport or driving licence scan.
What it collects
A photo of a passport, driving licence or other identity document, usually with a selfie to match against the document photo. The date of birth is read from the document; some services state they receive only the date of birth or an over-18 result.
The identity document is the most sensitive input of any method. Retention wording differs by deployer even for the same vendor; see the vendor-versus-deployer tables on the vendor pages.
What Ofcom says
Listed in Ofcom's January 2025 guidance (as photo-identification matching) as capable of being highly effective. The second most widely offered method in Ofcom's July 2026 sample. Ofcom
Listed as capable of being highly effective Offered by about 84% of the services in Ofcom's July 2026 sample (read from the report's chart; approximate).
Services in the index that offer it
| Service | Provider | Retention, as published |
|---|---|---|
| Apple devices | Apple |
No published retention period found (checked 6 September 2026). |
| Bluesky | Epic Kids Web Services |
No published retention period found (checked 6 September 2026). |
| ChatGPT | Persona |
No published retention period found (checked 6 September 2026). |
| Discord | Veratad |
No published retention period found (checked 6 September 2026). |
| Grindr | Grindr in-house |
No published retention period found (checked 6 September 2026). |
| Kick | k-ID |
No published retention period found (checked 6 September 2026). |
| OnlyFans | Ondato |
No published retention period found (checked 6 September 2026). |
| PlayStation | Yoti |
No published retention period found (checked 6 September 2026). |
| Persona |
“Persona deletes all of your personal information including any images within 3 days.” Quoted from help.withpersona.com; checked 6 September 2026. Held by the vendor. Period as stated: 3 days. | |
| Roblox | Persona |
No published retention period found (checked 6 September 2026). |
| Spotify | Yoti |
No published retention period found (checked 6 September 2026). |
| Tumblr | k-ID |
“Tumblr won't have access to the information you submit, just the final age-verification result; Documents are deleted after confirmation” Quoted from changes.tumblr.com, dated 6 May 2026; checked 6 September 2026. Held by the vendor. Period as stated: after confirmation. |
| X and Grok | Persona |
No published retention period found (checked 6 September 2026). |
| Xbox | Yoti |
“The information players provide is protected with industry-standard encryption and is not stored or used for any other purpose.” Quoted from news.xbox.com, dated 28 July 2025; checked 6 September 2026. Held by the service. Period as stated: not stored. |
| YouTube and Google Account |
“deleted after your date of birth is successfully verified” Quoted from support.google.com; checked 6 September 2026. Held by the service. Period as stated: after verification. |
Vendors offering it
k-ID, Persona, Yoti, Apple, Epic Kids Web Services, Google, Ondato, Veratad, VerifyMy, OneID.