Privacy & Cybersecurity Law Blog

On January 28, 2026, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) held a workshop entitled “Protecting American Children: A Workshop to Explore Age Verification Technologies.” Although originally scheduled to be held as a hybrid event (both online and in person), a winter storm caused the event to be held virtually only.

While titled as a workshop on “age verification,” the workshop’s scope was not limited to age verification technologies. It included age estimation, age inference, and related technologies, thereby prompting use of the umbrella term—"age assurance”—throughout.

FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson began the workshop by noting the agency’s interest in learning more about technologies that can advance the public good, especially in the context of protecting children and their privacy. He specifically mentioned that the agency is exploring a potential amendment to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act Rule that would promote the use of age assurance technologies. In doing so, the agency hopes to incentivize a wider adoption of age assurance technologies.

Commissioner Mark Meador echoed the Chairman’s support for the use of age verification technologies, and he asserted that the use of such technologies does not violate free speech rights. Commissioner Meader’s full comments are available here.

In addition to comments from both Commissioners, the workshop included four panel discussions moderated by FTC staff. The four panels focused on: (1) why age verification matters; (2) what age verification and estimation tools are currently available; (3) how to navigate the maze of age verification laws and regulations; and (4) how to deploy responsible age verification measures at scale.

Panelists included representatives from industry, consumer advocacy organizations, age assurance vendors, government regulators, and think tanks, including the Centre for Information Policy Leadership at Hunton.

A video of the day-long event is available here.