Age verification for sites prohibited to minors in Italy begins November 12, media watchdog AGCOM said Friday.

The countdown is on for the implementation of AGCOM regulations regarding age verification for sites prohibited to minors, such as those featuring pornography, gambling, or the sale of alcohol and cigarettes.

Portals will have until November 12 to comply with the Authority’s provisions, as required by a resolution approved last spring that allowed a six-month grace period.

This is actually a pilot program, running parallel to the one approved by the European Commission, which involves the use of an app.

In Italy, the system developed by the Authority relies on the intervention of independent, certified third parties responsible for providing proof of age.

The process is divided into two distinct phases for each session of specific services, such as accessing pornographic content: first, identification of the person, then authentication to confirm it is the person.

It will also be possible to use dedicated apps installed on your smartphone or device, such as those linked to digital identity wallets.

Through these apps, users can identify themselves and provide the required proof of age directly to the website or platform.

This system, according to the Authority, ensures a level of security appropriate to the risk and complies with the data minimization requirements.

The “double anonymity” mechanism does not allow age verification providers to know for which service the proof of age is being issued.

At the same time, the proof provided to the website or platform does not contain any identifying data about the user.