ACCS Expands Certification for Canada's Age Verification Standard

Published Date : 9/2/2025 

The UK-based Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS) has expanded its services to certify age verification and estimation technologies against Canada’s national standard, CAN/DGSI 127:2025, enhancing global age assurance standards. 

The UK-based Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS) has announced it can now certify age verification and estimation technologies against Canada’s national standard for age assurance. This expansion of services further solidifies the ACCS's role in providing a comprehensive global certification pathway across the UK, EU, Canada, and beyond.

Canada’s national standards body, the Digital Government Standards Institute (DGSI), approved the CAN/DGSI 127:2025 standard in August and published it just days ago. This standard specifies seven different methods of performing age checks: self-declaration; document-based age verification; biometric and characteristic-based verification; capacity testing; federation from other accounts or platforms; profiling, which is an inference based on behavior analysis; and authorized confirmation, such as by a parent or recognized professional.

The ACCS released the comprehensive final report from Australia’s Age Assurance Technology Trial on Sunday. This 18-page document on Canada’s standard aligns with ISO/IEC 27566 and IEEE 2089.1, with specific tailoring for Canadian law and privacy frameworks. It also references the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework (PCTF) as a normative reference.

Lily Edwards, ACCS Digital Marketing Assistant, highlighted in a LinkedIn post that the national standard aligns with these international standards and is specifically tailored to Canadian legal and privacy requirements. The standard mandates that relying parties must perform comprehensive privacy impact assessments when deploying age assurance technologies, including a Child Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA) as defined by UNICEF. They are also required to consider the accuracy of the technology, the appropriate level of confidence, and to offer users multiple options.

Acceptable age assurance technologies must adhere to Privacy by Design and Privacy by Default principles, proportionality, and data minimization. If they use AI, the relying party must inform the user. The standard also sets requirements for minimizing data storage and ensuring it is secure if required.

The standard will be subject to a technical committee review within two years, ensuring it remains up-to-date with the latest advancements in age verification technology and privacy practices. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS): 

Q: What is the Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS)?

A: The Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS) is a UK-based organization that certifies age verification and estimation technologies to ensure they meet high standards of accuracy and privacy.

Q: What is the CAN/DGSI 127:2025 standard?

A: The CAN/DGSI 127:2025 standard is Canada’s national standard for age verification and estimation, approved by the Digital Government Standards Institute (DGSI). It specifies various methods for performing age checks and includes requirements for privacy and data protection.

Q: How does the ACCS expansion benefit Canada?

A: The ACCS expansion to certify technologies against Canada's CAN/DGSI 127:2025 standard ensures that age verification solutions in Canada meet high international standards, enhancing privacy and security for users.

Q: What are the key methods of age verification specified in the CAN/DGSI 127:2025 standard?

A: The key methods of age verification specified in the CAN/DGSI 127:2025 standard include self-declaration, document-based verification, biometric and characteristic-based verification, capacity testing, federation from other accounts, profiling, and authorized confirmation.

Q: What is a Child Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA)?

A: A Child Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA) is an evaluation defined by UNICEF that assesses the potential impact of age verification technologies on children's rights, ensuring that these technologies are used responsibly and ethically. 

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