Free Speech Coalition announces support for OpenAge Initiative and Industry Adoption of AgeKeys as Privacy-Preserving and Cost-Effective Age Assurance
WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, January 26, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — The Free Speech Coalition (FSC) today announced its support for the OpenAge Initiative and its flagship technology, AgeKey, as a privacy-preserving and low-friction approach to meeting age-assurance requirements without compromising user anonymity or security.
FSC is the non-profit organization advocating on behalf of the adult entertainment industry, a segment that represents hundreds of billions of online visits annually. In recent years, adult websites have become the focus of age-verification mandates across the world. FSC has long been a vocal opponent of regulatory approaches to age assurance that require users to repeatedly upload their identity documents or biometric data, introduce new security risks, and often impose disproportionate compliance burdens. OpenAge was created to directly address concerns around age assurance that are shared by many.
“We believe that device-based solutions are more effective than fragmented platform or site-specific approaches,” says Alison Boden, Executive Director of the Free Speech Coalition. “OpenAge and AgeKey offer a practical bridge between these models, allowing users to store a verified age result locally on the device and reuse it across multiple platforms without repeated verification or resubmission of sensitive data. This approach holds the promise of reduced friction and privacy risks that have undermined compliance with age-verification mandates, and provides a path that is affordable for large platforms, independent creators, and small businesses alike.”
AgeKey is a reusable, FIDO2 passkey-based age credential that allows users to save an obtained age signal and subsequently prove that they meet a required age threshold without ever revealing their identity. Natively supported by all major devices, operating systems, and browsers, AgeKey requires no registration, app download, or account creation. It enables verifications to be done up to 95% faster than traditional age checks. AgeKeys preserve user privacy through a double-blind architecture, meaning neither the service provider nor the AgeKey issuer can identify the user or the sites or services they access.
The OpenAge Initiative is dedicated to creating an interoperable, cross-industry, and cross-platform framework for age assurance. Any platform or certified verification provider can adopt AgeKey and join the OpenAge Initiative. Relying parties retain control over the methods, providers, and recency requirements they accept, while AgeKeys always remain optional and free for users.
Julian Corbett, Head of OpenAge said:
“OpenAge believes deeply in interoperability and reusability when it comes to age assurance and users own data. Our mandate is to think first and foremost about what users’ needs and rights should be. This includes the right of children to receive age-appropriate experiences and protections from harmful content, and the right of adults to privacy and frictionless access online. We are thrilled that the Free Speech Coalition sees AgeKey as a solution that can meet the needs of its members while preserving these fundamental principles.”
Free Speech Coalition and OpenAge will now work together to deliver, in the coming months, a simple, turnkey solution that industry participants can adopt as they see fit. The goal is to make privacy-preserving, interoperable age assurance easy to implement, affordable at any scale, and aligned with both regulatory requirements and the fundamental rights of users.
About OpenAge
OpenAge is a global initiative focused on enabling privacy-preserving, interoperable age assurance for the internet. Through shared standards and open infrastructure, OpenAge helps platforms meet regulatory requirements through a user centric approach.
About AgeKey
AgeKey is a reusable, passkey-based age-verification credential provided by OpenAge. It lets individuals verify their age once, using approved methods such as Facial Age Estimation, IDV, credit-card, wallet-based Digital IDs, and reuse that token securely across services without revealing personal information.
By leveraging FIDO2 passkey technology, developed by FIDO Alliance and W3C, AgeKey delivers a seamless, instant experience: it takes only a few seconds to authenticate age anonymously.
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