The U.K.’s Internet regulator has finally released draft guidance on how porn sites will need to comply with a newly introduced strict legal requirement to prevent children from accessing adult content. Yes, after years of development, the British age checks for porn sites are finally on the way. The watchdog envisions this type of explicit content to be safely secured behind child-safe age gates, which it hopes to see welcoming U.K. users on the landing pages of adult sites in the future.
Today’s guidance from Ofcom, the regulator responsible for enforcing the country’s new Internet rulebook, provides more details on what it will mean in practice when the British system for age-gating pornography is up and running in the coming years. It also has broader implications for U.K. web users, as the law places similar requirements on social media platforms to implement age checks to protect minors. This indicates that these requirements are likely to serve as a blueprint for user-to-user services that Ofcom is expected to introduce early next year.
The government has stated its desire for the U.K. to be the safest place to go online in the world, and it is banking on age verification technology as the key to fulfilling this promise.
Ofcom’s draft guidance to porn websites suggests that age checks might include asking users to sign into Open Banking to prove they’re not minors, upload a copy of their passport, and provide a live selfie to verify their age. The regulator also lists other age verification technologies that it is open to exploring, including credit card checks.
Asked about circumvention risks, such as obtaining access using a grownup’s personal information, an Ofcom spokesperson acknowledged the need for practical measures to mitigate these risks. They emphasized that there is a possibility of layered age verification methods being introduced to users.
