Telekom and Scytáles cooperate for age verification

Under the eIDAS Regulation, all EU member states are obliged to offer their citizens an ID walletby 2026 to enable digital proof of identity using a smartphone. T-Systems and Scytáles, a Swedish manufacturer of digital identities, have teamed up for an order from the EU Commission. They initially want to develop an age verification function based on the ID wallet. The purchase of "age-restricted products or content" is to be made possible by the webshop receiving the necessary information from the wallet.

Anonymous age check

"Various legally binding documents can be read into the age verification app in EUDI wallet format to verify age, such as an electronic ID card, driving license or passport. The transfer of verified age details from the bank identity will also be a way of age verification. In addition, there are further possibilities for official register queries (e.g. for driving licenses) that contain a legally binding age," explains Dirk Backofen, who is responsible for "self-sovereign identities" (SSI) at T-Systems. According to Backofen, the verification methods may differ slightly depending on "local national law in the 27 EU member states".

The user's data should "never be transmitted to the requesting application for age verification". This is made possible by a so-called zero-knowledge proof. With this, the logical age statement, for example 'older than 18' and the type of derivation from which proof is derived, is transferred in a legally binding manner, but no user data such as name, date of birth and address. The user should remain anonymous and their privacy protected, which is particularly important for the protection of minors on the Internet. The user cannot be tracked either. The implementation will then be available as open source software for the EU, as requested. There are similar efforts in other countries to make certain websites accessible only after an age check; in Spain, for example, a "porn pass" has been developed.

Prototype to be launched in summer

According to the EU Commission's plans, the age verification solution should be available as a prototype by the summer of this year and then tested in advance in three EU member states. The companies did not provide any information on the order volume or duration.

"People who order sneakers online, for example, often don't know what the online store is doing with their user data. The technology confirms that someone really is who they say they are. Simply logging in without passwords for online citizen services, banking transactions or travel – simple and secure," says Ferri Abolhassan, T-Systems CEO and member of the Board of Management of Deutsche Telekom AG.

(mack)