The recent decision of the French Conseil constitutionnel of 14 August 2026, which partially struck down the legislation aimed at prohibiting access to social networks by children under the age of 15, provides a timely opportunity to address an issue that is set to become increasingly significant within the European digital regulatory framework: how to verify users’ age online in an effective, proportionate and fundamental-rights-compliant manner.

In the article published by Key4biz, Alessandro Del Ninno analyses the reasoning underlying the French decision and places it within the broader European legal and technical framework governing age verification and age assurance, with particular regard to the protection of minors, privacy and personal data protection, and the obligations incumbent on online platforms and digital service providers.

The analysis identifies six operational steps through which companies and organisations can properly design and implement an age verification or age estimation framework: from assessing the relevant risks and determining the appropriate level of assurance, to selecting suitable technological solutions and putting in place the necessary privacy, security, governance and accountability safeguards.

The decision of the Conseil constitutionnel highlights, in particular, that the protection of minors cannot automatically justify the imposition of generalised and indiscriminate user identification requirements. Any measures adopted must instead be necessary, proportionate to the risks pursued and supported by appropriate safeguards, taking into account both the effectiveness of child protection measures and the fundamental rights to freedom of expression and communication, privacy and the protection of personal data.

The article concludes with a number of considerations on the choices that the Italian legislature and businesses providing digital services will increasingly be required to make in order to translate the emerging European age assurance framework into solutions that are practically workable, technically reliable and legally sustainable.