Age assurance during an interactive query workflow
A solution for efficient and secure automated age assurance checking in association with a third party workflow involving an interaction between a user having an associated email address, and a target service. A request to estimate an age of the user is received and includes the email address. In response, the system issues a query to one or more data sources, each data source being of a different type and having an age attribute associated therewith. The data source(s) return responses to the queries. The system then associates an age attribute (typically, a minimum age) to each indication received from each data source queried. Based on a frequency of occurrence of the indications and the associated age attributes, a digital footprint that includes an estimate of the individual's minimum age is derived. A response (e.g., the estimated minimum age) to the request is then returned to the third party workflow.
1 . A method, comprising:
receiving a request to estimate an age of an individual having an email address, the request identifying the email address;
responsive to receipt of the request, issuing a query to a set of one or more data sources, each data source being of a different type and having an age attribute associated therewith, the query requesting an indication whether the email address has been seen in the data source;
responsive to receipt of one or more data points from the set of one or more data sources, associating an age attribute to each indication received;
based on a frequency of occurrence of the indications and the associated age attributes, building a digital footprint that includes an estimate of a minimum age of the individual; and
returning to a workflow a response to the request based on the estimated minimum age, the workflow being one of: an authentication check, and an authorization check.
2 . The method as described in claim 1 , wherein the response is one of: the estimated minimum age, the estimated minimum age together with a confidence level, an estimated age bracket that includes the estimated minimum age, and a set of estimated age brackets at least one of which includes the estimated minimum age.
3 . The method as described in claim 1 , wherein the workflow is a third party workflow and the request is received programmatically.
4 . The method as described in claim 1 , wherein the digital footprint is generated under one or more cryptographic protocols that secure the email address and the data obtained from the data sources.
5 . The method as described in claim 4 , wherein the cryptographic protocols include data hashing and encryption in transit.
6 . The method as described in claim 1 , wherein the response to the request is returned in association with an interaction with the individual.
7 . The method as described in claim 1 , wherein the one or more data sources comprise at least one of: email domain analysis sites, social media sites, e-commerce sites, professional service sites, gaming, streaming and entertainment services, news and forums, credit databases, financial institutions, and travel and leisure websites.
8 . The method as described in claim 7 wherein a number of interrogated data sources exceeds 100.
9 . A Software-As-A-Service (SaaS) apparatus, comprising:
computer hardware comprising at least one hardware processor; and
computer memory holding computer software executed by the at least one hardware processor, the computer software comprising program code configured to:
receive a request to estimate an age of an individual having an email address, the request identifying the email address;
responsive to receipt of the request, issue a query to a set of one or more data sources, each data source being of a different type and having an age attribute associated therewith, the query requesting an indication whether the email address has been seen in the data source;
responsive to receipt of one or more data points from the set of one or more data sources, associate an age attribute to each indication received;
based on a frequency of occurrence of the indications and the associated age attributes, build a digital footprint that includes an estimate of a minimum age of the individual; and
return to a workflow a response to the request based on the estimated minimum age, the workflow being one of: an authentication check, and an authorization check.
10 . The apparatus as described in claim 9 , wherein the response is one of: the estimated minimum age, the estimated minimum age together with a confidence level, an estimated age bracket that includes the estimated minimum age, and a set of estimated age brackets at least one of which includes the estimated minimum age.
11 . The apparatus as described in claim 9 , wherein the one or more data sources comprise at least one of: email domain analysis sites, social media sites, e-commerce sites, professional service sites, gaming, streaming and entertainment services, news and forums, credit databases, financial institutions, and travel and leisure websites.
12 . A computer program product in a non-transitory computer-readable medium for use in a data processing system, the computer program product holding computer program instructions that, when executed by the data processing system are configured to:
receive a request to estimate an age of an individual having an email address, the request identifying the email address;
responsive to receipt of the request, issue a query to a set of one or more data sources, each data source being of a different type and having an age attribute associated therewith, the query requesting an indication whether the email address has been seen in the data source;
responsive to receipt of one or more data points from the set of one or more data sources, associate an age attribute to each indication received;
based on a frequency of occurrence of the indications and the associated age attributes, build a digital footprint that includes an estimate of a minimum age of the individual; and
return to a workflow a response to the request based on the estimated minimum age, the workflow being one of: an authentication check, and an authorization check.
13 . The computer program product as described in claim 12 , wherein the response is one of: the estimated minimum age, the estimated minimum age together with a confidence level, an estimated age bracket that includes the estimated minimum age, and a set of estimated age brackets at least one of which includes the estimated minimum age.
14 . The computer program product as described in claim 12 , wherein the one or more data sources comprise at least one of: email domain analysis sites, social media sites, e-commerce sites, professional service sites, gaming, streaming and entertainment services, news and forums, credit databases, financial institutions, and travel and leisure websites.