Sorry, kids: FTC is taking comments on startup's plan to verify your age

Startup AgeCheq is getting serious about pushing its age-verification software with a proposal to the Federal Trade Commission to include it on the agency’s list of approved age and parental-consent verification methods.

Today, the FTC says it’s seeking public comment on AgeCheq, a parental consent verification platform that hopes to help online sites and games comply with the latest version of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule.

Under the rule, parents must sign off before online sites and services can collect any information on a child. The rule already lays out a number of options for how companies can both verify the age of the child and parental consent, and now AgeCheq is trying to get its age verification software on that list.

Just last week, the FTC said it will slap companies with a $16,000 fine for each download that fails to comply with the ruling. Bigger companies can foot the bill, but smaller firms and startups may have a harder time handling it. Implementing a verification protocol can also be difficult and costly — a problem AgeCheq hopes to address.

The company’s open SDK enables developers to integrate the software with any app, ensuring compliance for publishers. AgeCheq verifies an individual’s age and also gives parents control over their child’s personally identifiable information and the ability to monitor what their child is doing online.

Consumers will be able to comment on AgeCheq until Sept. 30. The FTC is seeking input about whether the app effectively checks age and parental consent and whether the software puts consumers’ information unreasonably at risk.