Ofcom names four age checks that could work at 16

Ofcom said on 29 October 2026 that four age assurance methods are capable of being highly effective at confirming a user is 16 or over: photo ID matching, digital identity services, banking-based checks and facial age estimation. The Secretary of State asked for the assessment to inform Parliament's debate on the draft ban regulations.

That is fewer options than for adults. Ofcom's existing guidance sets out seven methods for checking someone is 18, and its assessment found no emerging method that would be ready before the ban starts.

Older teenagers are the group most affected. Ofcom says 16 and 17-year-olds are more likely than over-18s to need photo ID, and those without it would likely have to obtain one, because photo ID is either part of each method or the likely backstop. Many adults will also have to prove their age, though a service that already holds reliable information may not need to check existing users again.

Ofcom is clear that no method is completely robust against circumvention by children, and it expects some to try, including with VPNs. It will publish a report on circumvention within twelve months of the ban coming into effect. Age inference, which estimates age from how someone uses a service, cannot act as the gate for new accounts, though it can help catch under-16s who get past a check.

The duty rests with the platforms. Ofcom says it is for regulated services to ensure their age checks are highly effective. The government has said it intends to lay the first regulations before Parliament by the end of 2026, and Ofcom will consult on draft guidance after that.

Ofcom also published a report on app stores the same day. It found that all of the app stores it analysed relied on children declaring their age. App stores are not regulated under the Online Safety Act, and the report may inform the government's decision on whether to bring them in. Our age-checks explainer covers how each method works.