Summary
People in the UK will soon need to verify their age to access pornographic websites due to new rules. These checks aim to prevent those under 18 from viewing explicit material, but they come with concerns about user privacy and data security.
Key Facts
- The UK Online Safety Act requires adult websites to introduce age checks by 25 July.
- Ofcom, a media regulator, says 14 million people in the UK watch online pornography.
- There are various ways to verify age, including credit card checks, digital identity wallets, and facial age estimation.
- Age verification companies claim they do not retain data and only confirm if a user is over 18.
- Credit card checks might involve a mini transaction, but do not share personal data with adult websites.
- Digital identity wallets securely store and share age information, with data encrypted and controlled by the user.
- Email-based age estimation uses email activity on other sites to estimate age, keeping data for up to 28 days.
- Facial age estimation uses technology to determine age based on appearance, raising questions about user comfort.
