SafeGen: A Privacy-First Age Assurance Framework for Australia
Policy, Standards, National Rollout
Supporting government's mission to protect young people online while safeguarding privacy and rights for all Australians.
SafeGen supports the Australian Government's mission to protect young people online by keeping under-16s off mainstream social media while safeguarding the privacy and rights of all Australians.
We provide a reference implementation of a national, privacy-preserving age assurance layer, designed for seamless integration with telcos, platforms, and government oversight.
Public-Good Operation Model
Designed for government stewardship
SafeGen was intentionally designed so it can be operated directly by the Australian Government, a public-benefit trust, or multiple accredited private providers.
If government prefers to take ownership or oversight of the system, SafeGen can be transferred, licensed, or co-governed to ensure neutrality, transparency, and long-term stewardship.
Government-owned
Direct operation by federal agency or authority
Public-benefit trust
Independent stewardship with government oversight
Multi-provider model
Accredited operators with consistent standards
How SafeGen Works
Telco Non-Adult Signal (No Personal Data Shared)
- •Telcos provide a binary 'non-adult' flag for mobile numbers (0–17).
- •No names, no subscriber data, no date of birth, and no identity attributes are shared.
- •This covers the majority of devices used by minors.
Parent Zero-Knowledge Age Attestation (No DOB Collected or Stored)
- •For numbers flagged "non-adult," parents complete a privacy-preserving attestation confirming whether the young person is under 16.
- •This generates a cryptographic yes/no age token.
- •SafeGen never receives or stores any month or year of birth, and never learns the child's identity.
Platform Integration via API
- •At sign-up or authentication, platforms request an age-status check and receive only: "under 16" or "not under 16."
- •No personal or identifying data ever leaves the user's or parent's device.
Protecting Young People From Adult Content
SafeGen's age-assurance framework is not limited to social media. It can also be applied to restrict under-16 access to adult-only online environments such as:
SafeGen provides a privacy-preserving gate that platforms can use to ensure minors cannot access age-restricted content, while adults can continue to use these services without exposing identity documents or personal information.
Why SafeGen Improves Reliability
Many age-verification methods today rely on probabilistic guesswork—patterns of behaviour, inferred signals, or broad assumptions about users. These methods can be inconsistent and are easy for motivated children to bypass.
SafeGen provides a more reliable and privacy-first approach by combining:
- •a telco-verified non-adult signal, and
- •a zero-knowledge parental attestation that confirms age status without revealing any identity or DOB.
This achieves stronger accuracy without requiring identity documents or centralised personal data.
Privacy, Data Minimisation & Oversight
SafeGen is purpose-built to minimise data exposure:
SafeGen can operate under independent audit, OAIC-aligned privacy controls, and clear data-destruction procedures to support government transparency requirements.
Accuracy and Fallback Approaches
While SafeGen increases accuracy by replacing guesswork with verified age-status signals, no system is perfect.
The framework includes:
This ensures that protections remain strong while legitimate users are not incorrectly blocked.
Preventing Circumvention: No Authentication Apps for Age-Restricted Accounts
Authentication apps (TOTP codes) give no age signal and allow minors to bypass telco-backed checks instantly.
For age-restricted accounts, platforms should rely on mobile-network-linked authentication, which preserves privacy while ensuring effective age assurance.
Authentication apps may still be used for adult accounts; they should not be relied upon in age-gated environments.
Why a Government Mandate Helps
To ensure national consistency and prevent workarounds using email logins, VPNs, or authentication apps, the Government may choose to require platforms to implement effective, privacy-preserving age assurance.
SafeGen is one compliant option within a competitive, multi-provider ecosystem.
Our goal is to support government-defined outcomes, not prescribe any single provider or method.
Integration Through CAMARA
SafeGen uses the CAMARA telecom standard now being adopted in Australia.
CAMARA provides a consistent interface that allows telcos to return privacy-safe age-status signals without exposing subscriber information.
Recognition of CAMARA as an accepted interoperability layer would simplify national deployment.
Telecom Standard
CAMARA is being adopted by Australian carriers for privacy-safe verification
Consistent Interface
Standardised endpoints reduce carrier-specific integration complexity
Privacy Design
Built for privacy-preserving attestation without exposing subscriber data
Coverage for Non-SIM Devices
Many children use tablets, laptops, gaming devices, and Wi-Fi-only hardware. SafeGen includes parent-led device tagging, allowing families to mark non-SIM devices as belonging to an under-16 child.
This provides comprehensive protection across all devices children use—not just phones.
Call to Action
Collaborate with us to evaluate SafeGen as part of Australia's national age-assurance framework.
SafeGen is ready to operate under government oversight—or to be fully operated by government if preferred—ensuring transparency, neutrality, and public trust.
Together we can protect children from social media harms and prevent access to adult-only online content in a privacy-first way.
Contact Government Relations