Which method should I offer?

Offer what the visitor's region accepts and let the visitor choose. Facial age estimation is fastest and needs no documents; government ID is the strongest proof; a payment card suits regions that recognise it as a commercially reasonable method.

Is a verification reusable across sites?

Yes. The record belongs to the user's ComplyAge identity, so a second partner sees the same verified status through OAuth/SSO or the gate without running a new check.

Do you store my users' documents?

Not in the clear, and not with the reusable record. Evidence is sealed into an encrypted audit archive kept only for lawful legal response; the record itself holds the outcome, the method and the time.

Can a visitor use their phone for the camera steps?

Yes. The verification window shows a QR code; scanning it opens a one-shot mobile handoff that completes the selfie or document capture and returns the result to the desktop window.

Verification methods — KYC and age verification

ComplyAge verifies age and identity with seven methods. Each runs in a hosted verification window — a first-party popup we serve, never an iframe of your site — produces a verification record that can be reused across your integrations, and is billed per completed check on paid plans. Enforcement zones limit which methods count in a given jurisdiction: Texas and Louisiana, for example, accept only government ID or a payment card.

The methods

Facial age estimation

Facial age estimation: a live selfie, an on-device liveness check, an age estimate — no ID upload, no stored image, only a protected face anchor.

Government ID verification

Government ID check: photograph a passport, licence or ID card; OCR reads the date of birth; a live selfie is matched to the document photo.

Payment card verification

How a payment card proves adulthood: a small authorisation through Stripe — nothing charged — records a valid card as evidence of age.

Email verification

Email verification sends a one-time code and confirms the address. Good for account linking and low-risk gates — not sole proof of age.

Phone verification

Phone verification texts a one-time code and confirms the number. Consent-based and rate-limited — a supporting signal, not sole age proof.

Username verification

Username verification: a photo of the visitor holding a handwritten sign with their username, read by AI, with paid human review for edge cases.

Postal address verification

ComplyAge mails a postcard with a one-time code; entering it proves the visitor receives mail at that address. Billed per card; US addresses today.

Reusable by design

A verification is stored once, against the user's ComplyAge identity, and reused: a person who verified for one partner is recognised by another without being re-checked. The reusable record carries the method, the timestamp and the outcome — not the evidence. Evidence is sealed in an encrypted audit archive that only a valid legal request can open.

Hosted, popup-only

Every method runs at app.complyage.org in a window we host. Your page never touches a selfie, an ID image or a card number. The window reports a status — VERIFIED, DENIED or CANCELLED — back to your page via postMessage, and the JavaScript insert exposes it as window.ComplyAge.verify(opts). Mobile visitors can scan a QR code to finish a camera step on their phone.

Matching methods to regions

Each enforcement zone carries an allowed-methods list. A strict zone accepts government ID or payment card; a flex zone also accepts facial age estimation. The Age Gate passes that list into the verification window, so visitors are only ever offered methods their jurisdiction recognises.

What is billed

Facial age estimation and government ID draw from your plan's verification allowance. Payment card and postal address checks are billed per check, and a human review of a username check is billed per review. Live amounts are on the billing screen in the app; the Age Gate and OAuth/SSO stay free.

Frequently asked questions

Which method should I offer?: Offer what the visitor's region accepts and let the visitor choose. Facial age estimation is fastest and needs no documents; government ID is the strongest proof; a payment card suits regions that recognise it as a commercially reasonable method.
Is a verification reusable across sites?: Yes. The record belongs to the user's ComplyAge identity, so a second partner sees the same verified status through OAuth/SSO or the gate without running a new check.
Do you store my users' documents?: Not in the clear, and not with the reusable record. Evidence is sealed into an encrypted audit archive kept only for lawful legal response; the record itself holds the outcome, the method and the time.
Can a visitor use their phone for the camera steps?: Yes. The verification window shows a QR code; scanning it opens a one-shot mobile handoff that completes the selfie or document capture and returns the result to the desktop window.