UK OSA Part 5, Section 60 — Age verification and age estimation standards
Services likely to be accessed by children must use proportionate and effective age assurance measures compliant with Ofcom standards for accuracy, privacy, and accessibility
Where this comes from
Provision: Part 5, Section 60 — Age verification and age estimation standards
Instrument: UK Online Safety Act 2023
Citation: Online Safety Act 2023, c. 50, Part 5, Section 60; Ofcom Age Verification Guidance (forthcoming); Schedule 4 (Category 1 services), Schedule 11 (children's access assessment)
Text version: Online Safety Act 2023 c. 50, as enacted (legislation.gov.uk)
Who it applies to
Child audience (designed for OR likely accessed by children) — any one of these:
- Service is specifically designed for children under 18
- Service is likely to be accessed by children under 18
Remaining applicability scope — all of these:
- Youngest user age is Under 13, 13-15 or 16-17
- Service requires/offers account registration
Scope in the source's own terms
- Service likely accessed by children
- Service available in the United Kingdom
What engineering work it implies
Sample acceptance criteria Landfall generates for this obligation:
- Default profile visibility: private (not public)
- Default data sharing: off (opt-in, not opt-out)
- Default location tracking: off
- Default contact discoverability: off
- User can change any default via settings
Evidence an auditor expects
- Technical controlTechnical audit
Age verification/estimation system
Implementation of age assurance meeting Ofcom guidance standards
- Test resultsTechnical auditRecommended
Age assurance effectiveness testing
Test results demonstrating age verification effectiveness
Questions people ask
- Does UK OSA Part 5, Section 60 — Age verification and age estimation standards apply to my service?
- It applies when at least one of: Service is specifically designed for children under 18; Service is likely to be accessed by children under 18; and Youngest user age is Under 13, 13-15 or 16-17; Service requires/offers account registration.
- From when does this apply?
- UK OSA Part 5, Section 60 — Age verification and age estimation standards applies from 16 December 2024. Its current status is: in force.
- What evidence does an auditor expect?
- Age verification/estimation system; Age assurance effectiveness testing.
Find out whether this one lands on you
Landfall's pre-scan answers the applicability question above for your product in minutes, then turns every obligation that applies into traceable engineering tickets with a citation chain your auditors can follow.
Not legal advice. Landfall maps regulatory obligations to engineering work for planning purposes. Its verdicts are not legal advice and create no attorney-client relationship — verify with qualified counsel before relying on them.