UK porn filtering controls are expected to be introduced next year to make it harder for minors to access – accidentally or deliberately – pornographic material over the Internet. The government has proposed a new requirement that will make it mandatory for all sites hosting adult or pornographic content to conduct age verification checks before adult content is displayed.
From April next year, a yet to be decided regulator – most likely the British Board of Film Classification – will be able to block websites hosting pornography if they do not conduct checks to ensure visitors are over the age of 18. Blocks are likely to be applied at the ISP level and the sites could be barred from taking credit card payments from the UK if they do not comply.
The change to UK porn filtering controls would mean minors would be prevented from accessing pornographic material. Digital minister, Matt Hancock, explained the move would mean “UK will have the most robust internet child protection measures of any country in the world.”
While many adult websites ask the user if they are over 18 before content is displayed to prevent accidental access, further controls would be required to verify age. One of the easiest ways to do that is by forcing the visitor to submit their credit card details. In the UK, it is not possible for individuals under the age of 18 to be issued with a credit card.
The new UK porn filtering controls have been welcomed by some groups – the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) for example – but the move has raised many concerns.
Age verification checks are likely to result in the operators of the websites maintaining a database of site users, even individuals who do not pay for access. The database is likely not only to include details supplied in the verification checks, but include profiling and viewing histories. It is possible that large volumes of highly sensitive data could be collected on millions of users.
Any website that collects sensitive consumer data is a target for hackers. The databases that could be built by adult content providers would be an even bigger target. Not only could information be used for fraud, the data could be used for blackmail and extortion. One only needs to look back to the Ashley Madison data breach in 2015 to see the damage that can be caused when the databases of adult websites are hacked.
That breach resulted in personal information being exposed along with details of sexual preferences and other highly sensitive information. The fact that a user was registered on a website that is used to hook up for extramarital affairs made even the exposure of personal information even worse. The stolen information was subsequently used by criminals to blackmail users and led to many public shaming incidents. In some cases, exposed users of the site committed suicide as a direct result of the breach.
The Open Rights Group has spoken out about the proposed changes to UK porn filtering controls. Jim Killock, director of the Open Rights Group, said “The Government has repeatedly refused to ensure that there is a legal duty for age verification providers to protect the privacy of web users.” Now, the change “could lead to porn companies building databases of the UK’s porn habits, which could be vulnerable to Ashley Madison style hacks.”
Killock also pointed out, “There is also nothing to ensure a free and fair market for age verification. We are concerned that the porn company MindGeek will become the Facebook of age verification, dominating the UK market.” Were that to happen, the company would be able to decide the level of profiling that takes place, the level of controls it sees fit to introduce to protect data and what privacy risks UK citizens would face.