BBFC.online uses the Board’s famous ‘black cards’ and category symbols to enable users downloading new media content − video-on-demand and streamed video which is offered to the public through websites, set-top boxes and portable media devices − to judge whether it is suitable for consumption.

Independent research indicated that 74 per cent of parents were concerned about downloading video material which does not come with independent content advice and labelling. In addition, 91 per cent of parents wanted to see BBFC film and DVD classification on downloadable/streaming films and other digital audiovisual content.

NetIDme Chief Executive, Alex Hewitt, said:

“BBFC.online is a revolutionary scheme that enables the application of the same rules in the online world that have been developed over many years to protect people in the real world.

To be one of the first companies to be accredited under the British Board of Film Classification’s scheme – and the only one capable of verifying under 18s – is a ringing endorsement of our patented age-verification system, which is currently used by a number of blue chip companies.”

Read more about NetIDme’s BBFC.online accreditation

NetIDme Age Verification

The cards, which allow youngsters to top them up with cash before going on a spending spree, do not require any age verification when purchased from a retail outlet or purchased online.

Credit cards issued by banks require adults to go through numerous credit and identity checks before they are issued. But under the loophole, pre-paid cards do not require any of the checks.

The Children’s Charities’ Coalition for Internet Safety, said underage buying of goods and services was becoming a growing problem.

Secretary, John Carr said: “We have been calling for better age verification system for several years to deal with a huge range of things arising out of the online world.”

“It suddenly has got a whole lot worse with the emergence of these pre-paid credit cards. They allow you to go and register yourself at any age you want. They don’t do any check up on the information that you provide them with. The financial services industry needs to step in and stop these practices.” (more)

NetIDme Service

Excerpt: NetIDme is specially targeted at young users of internet chat rooms due to the fact that youngsters are vulnerably exposed to internet predators. With this in mind, NetIDme was established in 2004 to provide a secure solution for social networking, online dating, instant messaging, e-commerce, online gaming and online chatting. It is the first identity verification service for the internet. At the time of writing, no other company worldwide has taken the similar approach in tackling the problems occurring in social interactions via the internet.

Recent NetIDme developments:

• NetIDme OpenID
• NetIDme CardSpace

The Best Practice Guidelines cover a range of marketing topics including unit labelling, the promotion of drinkaware.co.uk and website age verification pages.  The Guidelines are based on best practice initiatives which Portman Group member companies have pioneered and implemented.  (more)

NetID Authenticate is a secure age & identity verification solution for online services such as; social networking, online dating, and eCommerce. NetID Authenticate is the only identification service that provides a solution for identifying both adults and minors. The service validates user data by confirming information such as age, gender, name, and location against secure data sources. Its fast, reliable, and extremely simple to implement.

Business Benefits
Quickly confirm users’ age or identity during sign-up, or login.
Facilitates responsible community growth, and reputation protection.
Uses web services, therefore no hardware, or compatibility concerns.
Easily integrates into existing architecture, minimal IT requirements.
Provides a cost-effective age and identity verification solution.

User Benefits
Verification requires explicit user consent.
Consumer privacy is respected, personal details remain secure.
Personal data is not transferred, only a match code is provided.Data Protection and Privacy
Privacy and the protection of personal information is a high priority.
Data is never collected, stored, sold, or shared for marketing purposes.
Results are based on information from secure, trusted data sources.