Age Attestation & ISO 18013-5: The Complete Guide

Understanding Age Attestation and ISO IEC 18013-5

So, what's the deal with age attestation? In simple terms, it's the process of verifying someone's age using digital credentials. This is super important for various scenarios, like online age-restricted services, ensuring compliance with legal requirements, and preventing underage access. Now, ISO IEC 18013-5 is a specific international standard that provides guidelines for mobile driving licenses (mDLs). But why are we talking about this? Because mDLs are a prime example of how digital identity and age verification are evolving, and understanding this standard can shed light on broader digital identity management principles.

The ISO IEC 18013-5 standard is pivotal in the realm of digital identity because it provides a standardized approach to mobile driving licenses (mDLs). This standard doesn't just focus on the technical aspects of mDLs; it also delves into the security and privacy considerations that are paramount when dealing with personal information. Think about it: a driving license contains a wealth of data, including age, name, address, and even a photograph. Digitizing this information means we need robust mechanisms to ensure it's protected from unauthorized access and misuse. The standard outlines specific protocols for data transmission, storage, and verification to maintain the integrity and confidentiality of the information. For instance, the use of cryptographic techniques to secure data exchange and the implementation of consent mechanisms to control data sharing are key components emphasized in the standard. Moreover, ISO IEC 18013-5 addresses the interoperability of mDL systems, ensuring that a digital license issued in one jurisdiction can be recognized and verified in another. This is crucial for the widespread adoption of mDLs, as it facilitates seamless cross-border transactions and interactions. By setting a global benchmark for mDLs, the standard promotes consistency and trust in digital identity verification, making it easier for individuals to prove their age and identity securely in various contexts. Whether it's renting a car, purchasing age-restricted products, or accessing online services, the standard helps create a reliable framework for age attestation in the digital age.

The Missing Piece: Age Attestation Handling (ISO/IEC 18013-5:2021 7.2.5)

Here's where it gets interesting. There's a specific section in the ISO/IEC 18013-5:2021 standard (section 7.2.5, if you're curious) that deals with age attestation. This section outlines how a holder (that's the person with the digital credential) can prove their age to a verifier (the one requesting the age verification). The tricky part? It specifies something called “nearest ‘true’ attestation above request.”

So, what does "nearest ‘true’ attestation above request" actually mean? Let’s break it down with an example. Imagine a scenario where a holder is trying to access a website that requires them to be age_over_23. The website, acting as the verifier, sends a request for this attribute. Now, the holder's digital credential might not have an exact age_over_23 attribute. Instead, it might have an attribute like age_over_25 == true. According to the standard, this age_over_25 == true can be used to satisfy the age_over_23 request because it's the nearest