Watching Porn in The UK Just Got a Little Harder

As of today, UK users will not be able to access porn sites without first showing a valid form of ID.

The rule is aimed at preventing children from being exposed to pornographic content.

The sites will make use of either open banking, Photo-ID matching, facial age estimation, mobile-network operator age checks, email-based age estimation or digital ID services to mandate site access.

Failure to do so could result in serious fines up to £18 million or 10 percent of their global revenue.

There are an estimated 14 million porn watchers in the UK, many of whom have expressed concerns about handing personal information over to porn sites.

Per the BBC, age verification companies — who are likely to be employed — have said that users shouldn’t worry about potential leaks of personal information, as the firms don’t retain data, and they don’t know what a person has accessed.

Ofcom have sent out letters to ‘hundreds’ of services, making it clear that the ‘mandatory age-checks’ must be implemented.

Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom’s chief executive said: “For too long, many online services which allow porn and other harmful material have ignored the fact that children are accessing their services.

“Either they don’t ask or, when they do, the checks are minimal and easy to avoid.

“That means companies have effectively been treating all users as if they’re adults, leaving children potentially exposed to porn and other types of harmful content. Today, this starts to change.”

The new details were included in the latest round of industry guidance, ahead of the enforcement of the Online Safety Act.

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