UK online pornography age verification rules: By July 25, all major porn sites in the UK are expected to introduce age verification to block those under 18 from accessing their platforms. The move is in compliance with the UK's Online Safety Act, and will mark a shift in how Brits access adult content online. The move is coming with fears of mass surveillance, potential online blackmail, naming and shaming and privacy breaches. Here is a breakdown:
According to British media regulator Ofcom, 14 million Britons access online porn. The goal of age verification is to protect children from accessing adult content, but now, experts and privacy advocates are asking: what is the cost to personal data security?
Each of the seven verification methods approved by Ofcom has potential data privacy risks: from invasive information collection to data exposure. Users may be able to choose their preferred method for age verification, but it might be impossible not to leave any digital footprints. Let us look at each:
In this method, users can enter their credit card details. A small 'test' transaction verifies age.
Adult sites claim that personal data is not passed on to the platforms. But critics warn of credit card data mishandling and potential exposure through hacking.
Users can verify age through apps such as Yoti store with documents like passports.
Providers of such services claim that the data is encrypted and controlled by the users, but this amounts to mass digital ID use. Documents being used, if exposed, can have privacy consequences.
Artificial Intelligence can be used for checking where the user's email has been used, such as banks and utilities, and be used to guess the age of the users.
Though encrypted and not shared with the porn sites, some of it may be stored for up to 28 days. Operators like Verifymy claim it’s the most user-friendly and low-friction option, but doubts persist.
AI is used for age verification via scanning of faces through photos or videos.
This is essentially the use of biometric data, and many people may be uncomfortable about getting scanned
The age verification is done by checking the registration details of phone numbers.
It is possible that family plans on mobile networks might misidentify minors as adults or vice versa. It is unlikely to work for pay-as-you-go users and will depend on cooperation from mobile networks.
Age confirmation is done through verifying information from the user's banks.
Sharing of bank account numbers is raising red flags, even though no transaction data is viewed by the porn sites and is for protecting kids according to providers like OneID.
The users can click a selfie, and upload their passport or driver’s licence and the system will check if they match.
This is a privacy minefield, as highly sensitive personal documents are involved, along with real photos of users. Experts are calling it intrusive and outdated.
Protecting children from pornographic content is a universal priority. But experts are warning that it could lead to 'normalised mass surveillance'. With so many personal data points in play — bank details, biometric scans, ID uploads — critics ask if age verification might trade off privacy in the name of safety, with one analyst insisting that the only database that cannot be hacked is 'no database'. The tech might work but come at a cost that may be too personal for many.
