With age-check systems, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution.
Research suggests(new window) that no single method effectively protects children while also balancing concerns about privacy and access to information, but there is a way forward. Applying a broad array of common-sense measures, including parental controls and digital literacy education, can go a long way in helping guard children against potentially harmful content while remaining mindful of privacy rights and the nuanced ways young people use the internet.
Attribute-based verification
It’s not exactly an alternative to age verification, but proponents of attribute-based verification argue that it provides a more secure and private method of verifying a user’s age. That’s because it verifies only what’s necessary, such as requiring a self-declared age range rather than a government ID. But it has its limitations. Notably, any method that relies on self-declaration can be easily circumvented. It also fails to address the issue of personal data privacy(new window), as it does not prevent websites from collecting additional information, such as users’ IP addresses.
Attribute-based age checks, however, store data on the user’s device. This limits the number of people with access to a user’s private data and reduces the cyberattack risks posed by other age-check methods.
Zero Knowledge Proofs
Like attribute-based verification, a zero knowledge proof (ZKP) provides a way for websites and apps to verify a user’s age without the user having to explicitly share personal data about their identity. But ZKP isn’t an alternative to age verification(new window), rather, it’s a cryptographic tool that allows websites and apps to verify information about the user in question without gaining any additional information about the user.
In 2025, Google announced ZKP integration(new window) within Google Wallet to provide age verification across multiple apps. The tech company said it would continue to use ZKP with existing partners, like Bumble, to verify users’ ages without revealing their identities.
Age-Appropriate Design Code
The Electronic Privacy Information Center’s model bill for Age-Appropriate Design Code (AACD) was designed as an alternative to the rise in age verification legislation. The AACD gives children agency over their online experiences(new window) while requiring tech companies to evaluate their programs for features that put children at risk for compulsive use.
Additionally, the AACD would prohibit these companies from implementing programs with high-risk features, and would provide transparency into addictive design practices.
Unlike age verification legislation, the AACD places responsibility on the manufacturers of these technological platforms, rather than the users they exploit, circumventing issues around privacy and personal security.
Device- and OS-level parental controls
Parents and children can work together on a solution that best meets their needs. Device- and OS-level parental controls offer a more personalized approach to gatekeeping what kids see online.
Parents can set up their children’s devices to restrict or limit certain content. OS-level controls can be set up to limit daily screen time, require approval to install apps, and use web content filters, but the internet’s ever-changing nature means web filters can’t always keep up.
Used in conjunction with other protective measures, however, these restrictions can act as guardrails that reduce children’s exposure to harmful content without universal age verification.
Research suggests(new window) children who report less screen time are also the most likely to have parental controls on their devices. Yet parental controls are underutilized, according to the nonprofit Family Online Safety Institute(new window).
Use of parental controls varies widely across device types, and they are hardly a perfect solution. Children may have access to more than one device, making time limits and content filters harder to enforce.
Education and digital literacy
Talking with kids about online safety can make parental controls more effective.
In households that reported six or more conversations about online safety annually, both parents and children were more likely to say that parental controls effectively keep children safe online, research found(new window).
And those offline lessons can be valuable tools in protecting children when they are online.
Research(new window) from the World Health Organization suggests educational programs and cyberbullying prevention can work to reduce violence against children online. Programs that discuss online dangers and offline violence prevention, as well as healthy relationship skills, can help address children’s vulnerabilities to sexual abuse, harassment, and bullying, a WHO study(new window) found.
Parental guidance, support, and the ability to engage critically with online content all affect how a child might feel about what they see on the internet, research suggests(new window).
The way forward
Protecting children doesn’t require turning the entire internet into an ID checkpoint. The widespread deployment of online age checks struggles to balance legitimate child protection concerns against users’ data privacy rights. Until that balance is struck, existing measures can help kids navigate the internet confidently without surrendering sensitive personal information at every turn.
