UK OSA Section 82 - OFCOM's guidance about the duties in section 81 (Part 5 highly effective age assurance), read with secti…
Services likely to be accessed by children must use proportionate and effective age assurance measures compliant with Ofcom standards for accuracy, privacy, and accessibility
Where this comes from
Provision: Section 82 - OFCOM's guidance about the duties in section 81 (Part 5 highly effective age assurance), read with section 53
Instrument: UK Online Safety Act 2023
Citation: Online Safety Act 2023, c. 50, s 82 (OFCOM's guidance about the s 81 duties) and s 53 (OFCOM's guidance on content harmful to children and user empowerment); the underlying duties are s 81(2)-(3) (Part 5) and s 12(4)-(6) (Part 3). Ofcom guidance document title, publication date and version NOT VERIFIED - see confidenceNotes.
Text version: Online Safety Act 2023 c. 50, revised text as displayed on legislation.gov.uk on 2026-09-21 ('up to date with all changes known to be in force on or before 21 September 2026'), including the amendments made by the Crime and Policing Act 2026 in force from 29 June 2026 (S.I. 2026/689) and s 66 in force from 7 April 2026 (S.I. 2026/262). The as-enacted text is superseded.
Who it applies to
Child audience (designed for OR likely accessed by children) — any one of these:
- Service is specifically designed for children under 18
- Service is likely to be accessed by children under 18
Remaining applicability scope — all of these:
- Youngest user age is Under 13, 13-15 or 16-17
- Service requires/offers account registration
Scope in the source's own terms
- Service likely accessed by children
- Service available in the United Kingdom
What engineering work it implies
Sample acceptance criteria Landfall generates for this obligation:
- Default profile visibility: private (not public)
- Default data sharing: off (opt-in, not opt-out)
- Default location tracking: off
- Default contact discoverability: off
- User can change any default via settings
Evidence an auditor expects
- Technical controlTechnical audit
Age verification/estimation system
Implementation of age assurance meeting Ofcom guidance standards
- Test resultsTechnical auditRecommended
Age assurance effectiveness testing
Test results demonstrating age verification effectiveness
Questions people ask
- Does UK OSA Section 82 - OFCOM's guidance about the duties in section 81 (Part 5 h… apply to my service?
- It applies when at least one of: Service is specifically designed for children under 18; Service is likely to be accessed by children under 18; and Youngest user age is Under 13, 13-15 or 16-17; Service requires/offers account registration.
- From when does this apply?
- UK OSA Section 82 - OFCOM's guidance about the duties in section 81 (Part 5 h… applies from 26 October 2023. Its current status is: in force.
- What evidence does an auditor expect?
- Age verification/estimation system; Age assurance effectiveness testing.
Find out whether this one lands on you
Landfall's pre-scan answers the applicability question above for your product in minutes, then turns every obligation that applies into traceable engineering tickets with a citation chain your auditors can follow.
Not legal advice. Landfall maps regulatory obligations to engineering work for planning purposes. Its verdicts are not legal advice and create no attorney-client relationship — verify with qualified counsel before relying on them.