What is Age Gating and Why Do You Need It?

For businesses that provide age-restricted products or content, navigating the online environment can be challenging. A key concern is finding a reliable way to restrict access to appropriate age groups, which helps protect minors, avoid legal risks, and maintain brand reputation.

Age gating is one such tool that helps address these challenges by requiring users to confirm their age before accessing restricted content. It helps businesses manage both their regulatory responsibilities and which content reaches which audience.

In this article, we will explore what age gating is, its benefits, and the regulatory frameworks that require it.

What is Age Gating?

Age gating is a compliance mechanism designed to control access to age-restricted content or products. This helps businesses allow only age-appropriate users to access certain content or products.

For example, an online alcohol retailer might display an age gating banner that prompts users to confirm they are over the legal drinking age before they can browse products.However, it is important to distinguish this from age verification software—age gating is a straightforward solution that does not require invasive checks, such as biometric scans or government-issued ID verification. Instead, it provides a simple layer of protection, helping businesses manage sensitive or restricted content so that it does not reach unintended audiences.

This tool is especially significant for businesses that must comply with regulations concerning age-restricted goods and services. As a result, age gating offers a practical and cost-effective means to fulfill compliance requirements while maintaining a smooth user experience.

Why is Age Gating Important?

• Legal Compliance: For age-restricted industries, age gating plays an important role in helping businesses meet regulatory requirements.  Non-compliance can lead to significant fines or legal consequences. Additionally, by implementing age gating, businesses demonstrate their proactive commitment to regulations, thereby mitigating the risk of penalties and potential reputational damage.
• Enhancing Brand Image: Age gating helps build trust with consumers by showing that the company is taking proactive steps to protect younger audiences. It portrays the business as being socially responsible and committed to adhering to laws and ethical standards, which can positively influence brand perception.
• Minimizing Legal Liability: By restricting access to age-inappropriate content, age gating helps reduce the legal risks associated with minors accessing restricted products or services. This added layer of protection can be crucial in avoiding lawsuits or disputes that may arise due to underage users gaining unauthorized access.
• User Experience and Safety: Age gating contributes to a safer user experience so that underage users do not encounter harmful or inappropriate content. This promotes a more positive online environment and helps prevent potential negative impacts on younger users.
  
  
  

Examples of Use Cases for Age Gating

Age gating can be applied in a variety of contexts to help businesses comply with age-restriction requirements of various regulations and protect users. Here are some common use cases:

• E-commerce Websites: Businesses that sell age-restricted products like alcohol, tobacco, or cannabis must limit access to these items. Age gating helps confirm that only individuals of legal age are able to access and purchase these products.
• Online Gaming Websites: Many online games contain mature content that requires age confirmation to help appropriate audiences access the content. Age gating protects younger users from content that may not be suitable for their age group, while allowing adults to fully enjoy the gaming experience.
• Gambling Platforms: Age gating limits access to adult content and services for the appropriate audience. This is particularly relevant for gambling platforms, which are heavily regulated and need age gating to prevent underage users from accessing restricted areas.
  
  

Age Gating vs. Age Verification

Age gating and age verification serve distinct purposes. Age gating is a non-invasive, user-friendly method that asks users to confirm their age, while age verification requires more detailed checks, such as ID verification or biometric analysis.

Age gating is ideal for businesses needing a basic, non-intrusive solution to restrict access, while age verification is used when there is a need for a higher level of assurance, often involving government-issued identification. 

For businesses seeking a straightforward way to restrict access, age gating is often sufficient and helps avoid friction that could negatively impact the user experience.

Regulatory Frameworks Requiring Age Gating

Age gating is a requirement that can be found across various pieces of legislation related to data privacy or the protection of children in the online environment. 

For example, the UK Children’s Code (also known as the Age-Appropriate Design Code) mandates businesses to implement measures to protect children online, including age gating when necessary. This regulation aims to create a safer online environment for children by enforcing stricter content guidelines.

In the United States, regulations such as the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act protect children by mandating that online services directed towards children and platforms and websites that are likely to be accessed by minors have an obligation to protect children's personal data. One way to do this is to “estimate the age of child users with a reasonable level of certainty appropriate to the risks that arise from the data management practices of the business or apply the privacy and data protections afforded to children to all consumers.”

Added to this are pieces of legislation related to the sale of age-restricted products such as tobacco or alcohol. 

In essence, age gating is an important tool for businesses offering age-restricted products or content. It offers a simple and discreet way for access to be limited to the right audience while also helping businesses comply with regulatory requirements.

How Clym Can Help with Age Gating

Clym provides the ONLY solution on the market to combine website accessibility, data privacy, age gating, geo-restriction & VPN access control, legal document  integration and more, for an easy and cost-effective way to manage your business’ needs, all within a single, streamlined tool. Instead of paying separately for multiple compliance tools, Clym offers all these features in a single, comprehensive widget.  Integration is seamless, and our all-in-one solution means you do not need to manage multiple tools.

Simplify compliance, reduce costs, and maintain website performance with Clym. This holistic approach offers an accessible way for businesses of all sizes to manage requirements in one place, eliminating the need for juggling different providers or incurring additional costs for separate tools.

Our age gating widget is highly customizable, easy to integrate, and designed to help businesses with age-restricted content requirements while preserving user experience.

By integrating multiple compliance needs into one solution, Clym saves businesses time and reduces the complexities associated with managing separate compliance systems.

Benefits of Clym’s Age Gating Solution

• Multiple Display Settings: Businesses can decide whether to display the age gate across their entire site or on specific pages, customizing it to meet their specific content needs. This flexibility helps tailor the age gating process to align with the particular requirements of different products or content types.
• Verification Modes: Age gating provides various verification options, such as Yes/No buttons or a date picker, giving businesses flexibility in how users verify their age. Customization options make the age verification process simple and consistent with the website’s user interface.
• Redirect Options for Underage Users: If users do not meet the age requirement, they can be redirected to a different page. Businesses can use this feature to manage the user journey effectively, such as redirecting underage users to educational content or promotions that are suitable for all audiences, thereby retaining their engagement.
• SEO-Friendly Design: Age gating is designed to maintain SEO performance. It excludes search engine crawlers from the age check, ensuring the process does not negatively impact the website’s search engine rankings. This feature helps businesses retain their online visibility while adhering to compliance standards.
• Automatic Recurring Verification: To improve user experience, the widget can remember users who have already verified their age, preventing repeated prompts. This reduces friction and enhances the user experience.
• Content Exclusion Options: Businesses can exclude specific posts, pages, or products from age gating, or invert the settings to restrict only particular content. This allows precise control over what requires age verification and is especially helpful for websites that offer a mix of restricted and unrestricted content.

Key takeaway

Clym provides an all-in-one solution for businesses that have to meet various regulatory requirements and the ONLY solution on the market to combine website accessibility, data privacy, age gating, geo-restriction & VPN access control, and more, for an easy and cost-effective way to manage your business’ needs.

If you’re looking for a solution to facilitate compliance requirements, Clym is here to help. 

Our comprehensive approach enables you to focus on growing your business, knowing that your needs are expertly managed.

Ready to take the next step? 

Learn more about how Clym can help your business.

Book a demo or sign up for a free 14-day trial today.