In this paper, we provide an overview and evaluation of different types of age assurance technologies (AAT). We describe and analyse 1) different approaches to age assurance online (age verification, age estimation, age inference, and parental control and consent), as well as 2) different age assurance architectures (online, offline device-based, offline credential-based), and assess their various combinations with regards to their respective a) effectiveness, b) side effects, and c) acceptance. We then discuss general limitations of AAT's effectiveness stemming from the possibility of circumvention and outline the most important side effects, in particular regarding privacy and anonymity of all users; bias, discrimination, and exclusion; as well as censorship and related concerns. We conclude our analyses by offering some recommendations on which types of AAT are better or less suited to protect minors online. Guiding our assessment is a weighing of effectiveness against side effects, resulting in a graduated hierarchy of acceptable AAT mechanisms.

翻译：本文对不同类型年龄保证技术（AAT）进行了综述与评估。我们描述并分析了：1）在线年龄保证的多种方法（年龄验证、年龄估计、年龄推断以及家长控制与同意机制），以及2）不同的年龄保证架构（在线架构、基于离线设备的架构、基于离线凭证的架构），并从有效性、副作用及接受度三个维度对其各类组合展开评估。随后，我们讨论了因规避可能性导致的AAT有效性总体局限，并概述了最重要的副作用，特别聚焦于：所有用户的隐私与匿名性；偏见、歧视与排斥；以及审查制度及相关关切。最后，我们基于分析提出建议，指出哪些类型的AAT更适宜或较不适宜用于保护未成年人网络安全。贯穿评估的核心原则是在有效性-副作用权衡中建立分层级的可接受AAT机制优先级排序。