Cybersecurity Policy Report, U.K.’s ICO Seeks to Speed Age Assurance Adoption by Social Media Giants, (May 21, 2026)

By Tony Foley

In a statement issued today, the United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) expressed concern over the measures being implemented by large social media companies to strengthen their age assurance procedures to prevent underage children from accessing their services.

In the statement, the ICO noted that it sent letters in March to TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X calling for them to urgently review and strengthen their age assurance measures. The responses received showed that some services were taking or planning to take additional steps to protect children, but the ICO added that none had yet introduced new, viable and privacy-friendly age assurance solutions.

“Overall, we do not yet have confidence that appropriate measures are being put in place, and we are concerned that underage children’s data is still being processed on platforms they should not be on or able to access,” the statement said. “More needs to be done—and faster.”

ICO said it was considering its next steps and was ready to use the full regulatory powers available to it, including the formal investigation and sanctions process. ICO is working closely with the U.K.’s Office of Communications (Ofcom), which enforced the Online Safety Act and shares the ICO’s desire to ensure that underage users cannot access services that have not been designed for them. Finally, the ICO said it had published its response to a consultation by the Department of Science, Innovation, and Technology on children’s online protection measures launched in March.

News: InternationalLegislation DataPrivacy