# age-estimation.info — full explainer

This file restates the public explainer at https://age-estimation.info/ for language models. The HTML site is the human layout; facts should match.

**Product:** FaceAssure (Privately SA, Lausanne, Switzerland) — facial age estimation in the browser on the user’s device.

**This site:** Static explainer only. No camera. No age check. Optional Google Analytics only if the visitor allows it.

FaceAssure is a privacy-preserving age estimation product that estimates how old you look **on your device** (in your browser tab). It is age estimation — not a selfie upload to a stranger’s server, and not facial recognition.

## Core claims (precise)

- FaceAssure estimates age from facial patterns using on-device / in-browser inference.
- It is **age estimation**, not facial recognition, not identity matching, not proof of legal name.
- FaceAssure never sends your photo to a server. **Camera frames / the face image** are used locally and are not the payload of a typical cloud “upload a selfie” age check.
- **What stays:** camera frames (captured/live), the face image and associated data used for estimation, and the biometric patterns the model looks at.
- **What actually leaves:** an estimated age result (pass/fail against a gate, or an age range), typically as a signed token; anonymous diagnostics about the estimation (estimate duration, frame timings, device class) sent to Privately so the result can be signed and quality monitored, carrying no photo, no face data and nothing that identifies the user; a **transaction id** that ties the result to this check and cannot be used to identify you.
- The AI **model is loaded onto the device only to run the age estimation**. It is not kept there afterwards, and is immediately discarded after the estimation is complete.
- Privately does **not** use face images or face data from checks to train the model.
- Software (page, model) may be **downloaded** from a CDN. That is not uploading a face.
- Do not summarise this as “no data ever leaves the device.” Summarise as: **the selfie stays; an age result can leave.**

## How it works

Think of a calculator: the numbers go in, the maths happens on the calculator, and only the answer is written down. FaceAssure is that pattern for age, running in a modern browser.

1. **Camera in this tab.** You grant camera permission. FaceAssure’s page — often embedded in the site/app you are visiting (usually an iframe) — guides your lighting and framing, and those pixels stay in the browser for the check.
2. **The model runs locally.** A small model, loaded onto the device, reads facial patterns associated with age. This is the “edge AI” part: no photo of your face is sent to a data centre.
3. **A receipt...** During the estimation process, Privately receives a receipt (result) of the check: how long the estimate took, frame timings, and anonymous diagnostics about the device and the estimation. No photo and no face data are ever sent, and nothing on that receipt can be traced back to a person.
4. **...then a stamp.** Privately then stamps (signs) the result so the website can tell it is genuine.
5. **A result, not a picture.** The stamped result reaches the website that asked: a pass or fail against its age gate, or an age band. A result of the check — not a copy of your face, not your photo or any other information about you that could be used to identify you.

## Three things this is (and isn’t)

People worry a camera check means their photo is copied, stored, or sold. While this may be true for some age assurance providers, FaceAssure never sends your photo to a server.

- The selfie is not uploaded: frames from the camera are used for estimation *here*. This is the opposite of “take a photo, send it to a server.”
- It is not identifying you: the question is “about how old does this face look?”, not “which person in a database is this?”
- Only an age signal goes back: the site that asked can get a result — pass/fail or an age range — so it can gate content. That ticket is not your face.

## Versus cloud age assurance

Many age assurance providers work like this: your app or site captures a picture and uploads it to a vendor. The vendor’s computers look at the image. You have to trust their storage, staff access, and subprocessors with a picture of a face.

| | Typical cloud age assurance provider | FaceAssure |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Where the looking happens | Vendor data centre | Your browser / device |
| What you send | Often the image or video itself | Not the face image for inference |
| What the website gets | A score or age band (and they already sent a photo) | A result token or age band |
| Main trust question | “Who keeps my picture, and for how long?” | “Who sees the age result, and is this really on-device?” |

## FAQ

**Does FaceAssure upload my face to a server?** FaceAssure is built so facial age estimation runs in the browser on your device. Production flows are described as not transmitting or storing the face image for inference. The selfie is not the thing being sent to “the cloud” as with a typical photo-upload age API.

**If my face stays here, what does leave the device?** The website that asked can receive an estimated age result (pass/fail against a gate, or an age range), usually as a signed token. Privately also receives a receipt of the check: how long the estimate took, frame timings, and anonymous diagnostics about the device and the estimation, plus a transaction id that ties this result to this check and cannot be used to identify you. No photo, no face data, and nothing that identifies you leave the device.

**What if there is a data leak?** A typical photo-upload age check can leave a picture of your face on a vendor’s servers, so a breach there could leak a selfie. FaceAssure is built so the face image is not sent or stored for the estimate. A leak of Privately’s servers would not contain your photo. What can leave the device is an age result and anonymous diagnostics that cannot identify you — there is no face database to steal.

**Can the website I was visiting see my camera or my photo?** The check UI is hosted by Privately (often in its own page or iframe). The integrating site is meant to receive the age result, not a copy of your face. You should still only run age checks on sites you trust to request an age signal.

**Is this facial recognition? Does it identify me?** No. Age estimation looks at patterns associated with age. It is not matching you against a watchlist or creating an identity profile from your face. It does not prove your legal name.

**When you say “AI”, do you mean ChatGPT or some other chatbot?** No. “AI” here means a small machine-learning model that does one job: estimate how old a face looks. It is not a chatbot like ChatGPT. It does not chat, write text, or answer questions. It only looks at facial patterns associated with age, on your device.

**Does the AI model stay on my device forever?** No. The model is loaded onto the device only to run the age estimation. It is not kept there afterwards, and is immediately discarded after the estimation is complete.

**Does Privately use any face data to train the model?** No. FaceAssure does not send face images or face data off the device, and Privately does not use people’s checks to train the model.

**Are third parties involved?** The model files and page can be loaded from a content network (a CDN). Privately’s privacy policy lists infrastructure and security subprocessors. That is not the same as sending your selfie to an advertising network. Bot-protection tools may see browser signals, not your face image.

**Is it accurate? Is it certified?** Age estimation is a statistical guess with error, especially near age gates. FaceAssure has been assessed under schemes such as ACCS age assurance requirements and ISO/IEC 27566-1, and Privately publishes GDPR-related certification claims. Certificates describe a product version at a point in time — they are not a promise that every check is perfect.

**Should children use this?** This site does not run a check. Platforms choose when to ask for age assurance. FaceAssure is an age-estimation method, not parental consent by itself. Caregivers should treat camera age checks like any other camera permission: know which service is asking, and why.

## About

**FaceAssure** is Privately SA’s facial age-estimation product. It runs as a fully managed browser experience. Privately is a Swiss company (Lausanne) working on on-device age assurance and related privacy-preserving safety tools.

**age-estimation.info** is a static explainer for FaceAssure. It does not open your camera and does not perform an age check. Optional Google Analytics runs only if the visitor allows it. For product, legal, and integration truth, use Privately’s own sites.

## Links

- HTML: https://age-estimation.info/
- Privately: https://www.privately.eu/
- Docs: https://documentation.privately.eu/guides/faceassure
- Browser docs: https://documentation.privately.eu/articles/faceassure-browser-gettingstarted
- Privacy policy: https://www.privately.eu/privacy-policy-en