Explorer: Age Verification

Putting Age Verification in Context: Promise, Burden, and the Case for Sound Governance

Try the Interactive Explorer To accept the example data and see the results, click the colorful "Evaluate" button in the lower right-hand corner of either:

• Policy (TOML)
• Candidate data (CSV)

Age Verification Context

Age verification systems sit at the intersection of:

• minor protection
• privacy and data exposure
• surveillance risk
• implementation complexity and user burden

Different approaches shift these tradeoffs in materially different ways.

For example:

• stronger assurance often increases data collection and retention
• centralized systems increase coordination but raise surveillance concerns
• lower-friction systems reduce burden but may weaken protection

This project treats age verification not as a single technical problem, but as a governance and infrastructure design problem.

Dimensions of Analysis

Each candidate approach is evaluated across six dimensions:

• Assurance Level – strength of age verification
• Privacy Exposure – amount and sensitivity of user data revealed
• Data Retention – how long data persists
• Centralization – where authority and control reside
• User Burden – effort required by individuals
• Reusability – whether verification can be reused across contexts

These are combined into four interpretive lenses:

• Minor Protection
• Privacy Risk
• Surveillance Risk
• Implementation Complexity

Patterns Evaluated

The explorer includes representative approaches such as:

• Self Declaration
• Document Upload
• Third-Party Age Token
• Device-Based Estimation
• Government Digital ID

These are not recommendations—they are reference patterns for exploring structural tradeoffs.

What the Explorer Does

The Explorer:

• applies a configurable policy (TOML)
• evaluates candidate approaches (CSV)
• computes weighted profiles across dimensions
• surfaces tensions and rule-based warnings
• enables interactive inspection of outcomes

The system is designed to make assumptions explicit and outcomes inspectable.

Important Note

This project does not advocate for a specific solution.

It provides a structured way to examine:

• how design choices affect outcomes
• where tradeoffs become significant
• how governance assumptions shape results

This Project

This project provides a structured framework for exploring tradeoffs under explicit assumptions and constraints. It:

• frames the issue as one of infrastructure and governance
• recognizes the distribution of costs and benefits
• emphasizes integration with broader systems rather than isolated analysis

The goal is to make tradeoffs visible and inspectable across multiple dimensions.

Contribution

The contribution is the framework for structured exploration, not the specific values used in any given scenario.

• Constraints, thresholds, and weights are configurable
• Assumptions are explicit and inspectable
• Results are comparative and scenario-dependent

This project does not determine outcomes or recommend decisions. It provides a way to examine how different assumptions and constraints shape results.

Working Files

Working files are found in these areas:

• data/ - source inputs and scenario configuration
• docs/ - narrative, assumptions, and analysis
• src/ - implementation

Current Capabilities

• Loads possible configurations from CSV and policy constraints from TOML
• Evaluates hard constraints for each candidate (PASS / FAIL)
• Evaluates scenario-level decisions (APPROVE / CONDITIONAL / REJECT)
• Exports results as JSON for the web Explorer
• Interactive web Explorer for non-technical users

Command Reference

Show command reference

In a machine terminal (open in your Repos folder)

After you get a copy of this repo in your own GitHub account, open a machine terminal in your Repos folder:

# Replace username with YOUR GitHub username.
git clone https://github.com/username/explorer-age-verification

cd explorer-age-verification
code .

In a VS Code terminal

uv self update
uv python pin 3.14
uv sync --extra dev --extra docs --upgrade

uvx pre-commit install
git add -A
uvx pre-commit run --all-files
# repeat if changes were made
git add -A
uvx pre-commit run --all-files

uv run python -m explorer_age_verification.cli --candidates data/raw/candidates.csv --policy data/raw/policy.toml --output-json docs/data/results.json

uv run ruff format .
uv run ruff check . --fix
uv run zensical build

git add -A
git commit -m "update"
git push -u origin main

Test page:

uv run python -m http.server 8000