Best Methods for Age Verification According to Teenagers (aged 12-14 and 15-17) (2025)

This table examines the preferences of European teenagers (aged 12-17) regarding technical methods for age verification in five countries: Belgium, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain. The 2025 data reveal that there is no single 'preferred' solution among young people; instead, support is fragmented across multiple technical approaches. A significant trend emerges among older teenagers (aged 15–17), who demonstrate the strongest preference for platform-specific verification (38%), indicating a preference for distinct digital identities rather than a universal 'digital key'. By contrast, younger teenagers (aged 12–14) are more open to centralised gatekeeping, with 34% supporting verification at the app store level compared to 28% of older teenagers. One-time, device-linked verification remains a consistently popular option for both age groups (34–36%), reflecting an appreciation of user convenience. While privacy-preserving methods such as dedicated anonymity apps (30–31%) and biometric identification (28–32%) receive significant support, they do not emerge as the leading choices.