LONDON, U.K.—Ondato, a global provider of digital identity verification and compliance solutions, has released “The Surge of the US Age Verification Laws: 2026 Outlook,” a practical guide to current U.S. requirements, legal risks and implementation options for businesses operating age-restricted digital services.
With U.S. states introducing and enforcing new age verification requirements (particularly for adult-content platforms, social media, and online commerce), businesses face a fragmented compliance environment that is expanding in scope and scrutiny. Ondato’s report maps the legislative trajectory from 2023–2025 and outlines what organizations should prepare for in 2026, including likely enforcement patterns, technology expectations, and emerging debates around privacy and free expression.
“Age verification was once a niche compliance checkbox in the U.S. but has since become a defining requirement for how digital services manage access, identity, and user protection,” said Liudas Kanapienis, CEO and co-founder of Ondato. “This report helps decisionmakers understand what’s already in force, what is likely coming next, and how to implement age checks in a way that balances regulatory demands with privacy and user experience.”
“The report provides a high-level yet practical overview for compliance, legal, and product teams navigating the rapidly evolving U.S. age verification landscape. It includes a comprehensive state-by-state tracker of enacted, pending, and failed age verification legislation, outlining key legal thresholds, technical requirements, and enforcement mechanisms. It also examines the legal shifts shaping 2026, including changing First Amendment interpretations and recent Supreme Court precedent, as well as the acceleration of fragmented state-level regulation and ongoing litigation. In addition, the report addresses real-world implementation challenges, including user circumvention, interoperability gaps, compliance costs for smaller platforms, and growing expectations around data minimization and privacy,” a description reads.
“Finally, it compares the main age verification technologies and methods in use today, ranging from document and database checks to biometric age estimation, mobile driver’s licenses, and emerging privacy-preserving approaches.”
The report also outlines how age verification requirements increasingly extend beyond adult content into social platforms, online gaming, e-commerce and delivery, gambling and other age-restricted services, and what that means for compliance strategies across multiple states.
“The Surge of the US Age Verification Laws: 2026 Outlook” is available to download at Ondato.com.
