Dating & Social Discovery
Age assurance at signup to protect minors and build user trust — with privacy-focused client-side biometric processing.
What You Need to Comply With
- Minors protection — dating platforms have a duty of care to prevent minors from accessing services designed for adults. Age verification at signup is the most direct way to meet this obligation.
- UK Online Safety Act — platforms hosting user-generated content must implement age assurance measures proportionate to the risk of harm to children. Dating apps fall under these requirements.
- Trust and safety standards — verified age and identity contribute to user trust, reduce catfishing, and support safer interactions between users.
Recommended Verification Flow
- age_only — the primary flow for dating platforms. Verifies users are 18+ through face estimation and liveness detection without requiring an ID document. This keeps signup friction low while providing effective age assurance.
- full_age — optional upgrade for enhanced trust badges. Users who want a "verified" badge can complete ID-based verification for stronger proof of age and identity.
Most dating platforms embed age_only during the signup flow and offer full_age as an optional trust upgrade in profile settings.
Data Handling
All verification data is stored and processed within the EU (Germany). Biometric processing (face detection, liveness analysis, age estimation) runs entirely client-side in the user's browser, meaning raw biometric data is never transmitted to servers.
This privacy-focused architecture minimizes data exposure and aligns with user expectations on dating platforms where privacy is a core concern.
Retention & Evidence
Age-only verifications expire after 1 year with annual renewal. When a verification expires, the user is prompted to re-verify. Expired verification data is cleaned up per GDPR data minimization principles.
All access to verification data is logged for audit purposes, including who accessed the data, when, and from where.
Integration
Embed the verification widget during your signup flow or in profile settings:
- Embed with
level=age_onlyat signup - Optionally offer
level=full_agein profile settings for trust badges - Listen for
ae:completeto activate the user account - Query
/v1/verify/:externalId/verifiedto check badge status
Integration typically takes a few hours. See the quick start guide and embed documentation.
Which Plan Fits
Smaller dating apps and startups typically start on the Launch plan. Growing platforms with higher user acquisition volumes benefit from the Scale plan with reduced per-verification pricing.
See pricing for full plan details.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much friction does age verification add to signup?
- The age_only flow typically completes in under 60 seconds. It uses the device camera for face estimation and liveness checks without requiring an ID document upload. Users estimated at 25 or older are auto-approved immediately, which covers the majority of dating app users.
- Is biometric data stored on your servers?
- Face detection, liveness analysis, and age estimation all run client-side in the user's browser. The biometric models never leave the device. Only the verification result (age estimate, liveness scores) and the recorded video are transmitted to EU servers for review and compliance.
- Can verified users display a trust badge on their profile?
- Yes. After a successful verification, your platform can query the /v1/verify/:externalId/verified endpoint to check verification status and display a badge accordingly. The badge logic is on your side, giving you full control over how verified status is presented to other users.