New solution ensures protection of minors on the Internet in accordance with applicable EU law

The Liechtenstein start-up TantumPay is on the way to revolutionizing youth protection on the Internet. In coordination with the responsible authorities, a solution will be published to ensure compliance with the EU Directive on Audiovisual Media Services (AVMS). This has been active in the amending directive 2018/1808/EU since October 2020 and thus forms the new legal basis for the protection of minors in the media in the European Union.

With the notification dated November 2nd, 2020, Tantum AG's solution was assessed positively by the German Commission for Youth Media Protection (KJM) and is therefore in line with the Youth Media State Treaty (JMstV). This marks the first milestone in introducing TantumPay to the market across Europe. TantumPay offers a solution with which consumers can anonymously confirm their age and at the same time comply with child protection on the Internet.

What is it about?

Protection of minors is an everyday issue: every bar, cinema or supermarket requires an ID as proof of age in order to then refuse or allow alcohol, tobacco or films from 18 onwards.

However, the world is now largely digitalized, in which the protection of minors is often inadequately or not taken into account at all. Be it access to computer games that contain violent content, or online erotic offerings. For example, the average age of first-time consumers of hardcore pornography is just 12.7 years old. Such online offerings can usually be accessed without any restrictions.(1, 2)

Even with computer games and streaming portals, there is generally no satisfactory age verification. Internet stars and influencers can be observed on streaming portals playing content that glorifies violence or betting money in online casinos.(3, 4)

The times when the Internet was a legal vacuum in the area of youth protection are now definitely over in Europe. The entry into force of the changes to the EU AVMS directive creates uniform rules and closes existing legal loopholes. At the same time, TantumPay is bringing an innovative technical solution onto the market that ensures the protection of minors in a convenient, secure, affordable and highly scalable way.

Previously, age verification was possible using video identification or Post-Ident. However, these processes are rather lengthy, annoying for users and require the disclosure of personal data. In addition, even this age verification does not make it difficult to pass it on to third parties, as once an age-verified account can easily be passed on to an underage friend or shared in Internet forums.

TantumPay addresses exactly this problem with the TantumPay app. A groundbreaking solution that allows consumers to anonymously confirm their age, which can be used to ensure and ensure the protection of minors on the Internet.

The solution:

By using artificial intelligence, identification at TantumPay is carried out using a selfie video without personal contact/video call. The authenticity of the ID document is checked, the data it contains is recorded and the biometric data from the selfie video is compared with the image on the ID document. TantumPay is working with the Zurich scale-up PXL Vision, the Swiss market leader for secure, fully automated identity verification based on artificial intelligence.

This not only makes identification user-friendly, but also much safer and faster than traditional identity verification. At the same time, it is more difficult to pass it on to third parties by linking it to the corresponding mobile phone. This innovative technical solution allows KJM and therefore EU-compliant identity verification to be carried out in just a few seconds.

After successful, one-time identity verification, the user has stored his or her own anonymous ID in the Tantum-Pay app. The user can easily confirm their age by scanning a QR code. No user data will be passed on. “We offer our customers the opportunity to access online platforms while protecting their identity. Our customers therefore remain completely anonymous,” explains Dominik Hurum, CEO of TantumPay.

In a further step, TantumPay app users will also be able to make payments anonymously and securely.

In summary:

By combining innovative technology and data protection in a dialogue with legislators and industry, a new solution has been created that implements the desirable development of youth protection in an exemplary manner. At the same time, cost-effective scaling of millions of times is possible, with data security and user anonymity being the top priority.

Contact Tantum AG

info@tantumpay.com
www.tantumpay.com

Sources:

  1. Ott, H. (2020, April 28). Interview in the morning: Escalation if necessary. Retrieved October 30, 2020, from https://www.sueddeutsche.de/medien/pornografie-jugend-schutz-landesmedienanstalt-1.4887309
  2. Hohenheim, U. (2017, December 06). PM Detailed view: University of Hohenheim. Retrieved October 29, 2020, from https://www.uni-hohenheim.de/pressemitteilung?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=37983&cHash=91bc3a6dc5c6b9304555ab08df7da545
  3. Twitch – Youth Protection (2020, October 28). Retrieved October 29, 2020, from https://www.lmz-bw.de/newsroom/newsroom/detailseite/twitch-jugend-schutz-fehlanzeige/
  4. Twitch – the streaming platform for (nd). Retrieved October 29, 2020, from https://www.elternguide.online/2019/11/08/twitch-die-streamingplattform-fuer-gamer/ Voon, V., Mole, TB, Banca

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