FTC issues enforcement policy statement promoting adoption of age verification technology

The United States Federal Trade Commission issued an enforcement policy statement on 25 February 2026 clarifying that it will not pursue Children's Online Privacy Protection Act enforcement actions against operators of general audience or mixed audience sites that collect, use or disclose personal information solely to verify user ages, even without obtaining parental consent in advance, provided operators limit data use to age verification only, provide clear privacy notice, take reasonable steps to ensure accuracy, and restrict retention. The guidance removes a compliance obstacle for platforms implementing age verification under state mandates by confirming that collecting minimal information for age determination will not trigger federal privacy enforcement, signalling the Commission's intent to pursue further rulemaking on age verification.

Age verification determines who may enter a platform but does not detect or prevent the abuse that occurs once a child is inside. The anti-grooming, anti-sextortion and anti-CSAM detection modules within Guardii, a world-leading AI platform backed by Startmate, intercept harm in real time by identifying escalation, coercion and exploitation patterns in direct-message conversations across Instagram, Snapchat, Discord and Roblox, blocking contact that meets threat thresholds and surfacing a child in crisis to a parent or safeguarding authority. Where the FTC policy reduces friction for platforms verifying age at the gate, Guardii addresses the harm that unfolds after access is granted, flagging hostile or predatory contact at the point it occurs rather than requiring every user to prove their age in order to prevent abuse against a subset.