Introduction

The young are often unprepared for the sorts of things they might find online.

Maturity, education, and the guidance of responsible adults can help children navigate online interactions, but age is often regarded as the best indicator of how able a person is to cope with exposure to content.

Increasing interest is being shown in the implementation of regulation that restricts what content young people can access online. A recurring theme in these efforts is that it is no longer considered sufficient to rely on self-assertions of age. A number of jurisdictions have enacted - or are in the process of enacting – laws that take steps to provide stronger guarantees that children are not exposed to certain content.

This workshop seeks to perform a thorough examination of the technical and architectural choices that are involved in solutions for age-based restrictions on access to content. We do not expect to identify a single candidate solution, even if that might be an ideal outcome. The goal is to build a shared understanding of the properties of various proposed approaches.

In general, access restrictions are achieved by selectively blocking or filtering. RFC 7754 (Technical Considerations for Internet Service Blocking and Filtering) provides a more general framework for how to think about restrictions on communications. This workshop will build on that work. In particular, it will seek to examine the specific technical considerations that apply when content is legally accessed by some people and restricted for others based primarily on their age.

Position Papers

Individuals interested in participating in this activity can indicate their interest by submitting a short position paper. Position papers do not represent either the IETF or W3C. In some cases, an expression of interest is sufficient.

Topics of interest, as identified by the program committee, include:

• Surveys of the common features of regulation on age restrictions
• Analysis of the technical requirements that might apply
• Identification of other key factors to consider in the design of a technical architecture, including, but not limited to, privacy, equity of access, market dynamics (such as centralization), vulnerability to circumvention, cost, accuracy, jurisdiction/geolocation, and censorship
• Details of possible technical architectures, whether in whole or part:
• For determining the age of people
• For identifying content that might need to be restricted
• For controlling access to identified content
• Comparisons of different technical architectures
• Examination of how technical architectures might interface with or rely upon regulation or other governance structures
• Feasibility of different approaches
• Exploration of the ramifications of choosing different technical architectures

Input on other relevant subjects is welcome. Papers that are submitted will be used in developing a workshop program. Position papers from those not able to attend the workshop are also encouraged.

Submissions can be made by emailing papers to <age-workshop-pc@iab.org>. Participants can choose their preferred format, though short PDF submissions (around 5 A4 pages) are preferred.

Submissions will be published with attribution unless the submission clearly indicates a preference that the submission be kept private or published anonymously.

Out of Scope

As technology does not exist in a vacuum, this will necessarily involve some discussion of how technology might interface with regulatory and governance regimes. Debate about what different choices might be made by regulators is out of scope. This includes choices about what content is restricted. The goal is only to examine how restrictions are implemented on a technical level.

Age-based restrictions on access to content is very close to censorship. Discussion on the subject of censorship will be limited to discussions about how access restrictions can avoid being misused for censorship purposes.

The use of age-verification technology outside of an online context is not the primary focus of this workshop. For example, use of age in medical research or proof of age conditions on physically entering a club or bar. The workshop only seeks to examine the effect on the Internet and Web architecture.

Participation

Participation in the workshop is by invitation only. Remote participation facilities are not provided.

The workshop will be conducted under Chatham House rule, modified to include publication of the attendees and their affiliations, unless requested otherwise. The workshop will not have public recordings or minutes, but these might be taken to aid in the preparation of a report and subsequently discarded.

As a joint workshop, the W3C code of conduct, the IETF code of conduct, and the IETF anti-harassment policy apply. Contributions are subject to the IETF intellectual property policy.

Summary Report

A report will be published after the conclusion of the workshop. That report will include:

• A list of attendees and primary affiliations (anonymity or exclusion can be requested)
• A summary of topics discussed including general trends and key viewpoints expressed
• Resolutions that participants reached, if any
• Recommendations for future research or standards development

Program

This workshop is a 2.5 day in-person event. The bulk of the program will consist of a series of sessions that each focus on a specific topic.

Each session will start with a small number of presentations of material from participants based on their position papers. These presentations will help establish a common understanding of the topic in order to better facilitate discussion. The bulk of each session will be spent on discussion: first to clarify understanding, then to identify key issues, and - where appropriate - to explore potential paths to constructive outcomes.

An outline of the program will be published prior to workshop commencement.

Logistics

Paper submissions due by: 2025-07-31
Invitations to attendees sent: 2025-08-07
Workshop date: 2025-10-07 through 2025-10-09
Workshop location: London, UK

Program Committee

The program committee can be contacted at: <age-workshop-pc@iab.org>.

• Christine Runnegar
• Hadley Beeman
• Mark Nottingham
• Martin Thomson
• Nick Doty
• Tara Whalen
• Tommy Pauly

For full details, please see the workshop's Datatracker page.