New porn verification rules may expose users to blackmail
Campaigners have warned that anyone in the UK who views online pornography could be exposed to blackmail when news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">new rules require them to prove their age to access adult material.
Sky news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news has learned that the government has delayed setting a date for when these rules will come into force due to concerns regarding the security and human rights issues posed by the rules.
Pornographic websites will not allow Britons to view their content unless they have proven their age, under a news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">new scheme designed to prevent children from accessing adult material.
Simply entering a birth date or ticking a box won't be enough under the news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">new rules, which could require viewers to provide their bank details or purchase a £5 card in stores to get access to the sites.
Websites which are "more than one-third pornographic" could be blocked at an Internet Service Provider level in the UK if they fail to comply with the law, which is being enforced by the British Board of Film Classification.
The news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news.sky.com/story/porn-websites-to-check-uk-users-ages-as-law-passes-11604331">law requiring these checks passed in January and the government stated it would enter into force "around April" - already a delay of a year from when they were first due to be policed.
However, contrary to reports that this would be on 1 April, Sky news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news understands this has not been set.
A DCMS representative said: "This is a world-leading step forward to protect our children from adult content which is currently far too easy to access online.
"The government, and the BBFC as the regulator, have taken the time to get this right and we will announce a commencement date shortly."
Image:Websites such as PornHub have agreed to implement the age checking measures
Contributing to this delay are the fears raised by campaigners, warning that by tying porn habits to an internet identity, the government is in effect creating a potential database of sexual preferences.
If this database was accessed by hackers, the information it contained could be used to shame and attack the people it identified.
"This could go horribly wrong, exposing people to blackmail, fraud and career-damaging data leaks," warned Jim Killock, the director of campaigners Open Rights Group.
Experts have suggested that the law could put government ministers and other high-profile figures at risk of blackmail if their embarrassing habits were observed by hackers.
Figures released in 2018 revealed that there were news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news.sky.com/story/over-24000-attempts-to-access-pornographic-websites-in-parliament-since-election-11199811">roughly 160 attempts a day to access blocked pornographic websites within Parliament the year before.
In addition to increasing risks, academic researchers and technology experts have warned the measures news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news.sky.com/story/academics-doubt-value-of-online-porn-age-checks-10952614">will not necessarily protectchildren from adult material.
"It seems we may be heading for a voluntary box ticking exercise to persuade people that they are safe when they are not," Mr Killock added.
"The government will bear responsibility if and when things go wrong. At this point, we should be very worried."
Are porn companies taking advantage of news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">new age regulations?
Mr Killock also criticised the regulator, the BBFC, for failing to hold any public consultations on the age verification scheme.
"BBFC are crashing ahead with their plans, and trying to patch together a voluntary privacy scheme to protect some but not all people being age verified," he said.
A spokesperson for the BBFC didn't respond to Sky news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news' requests for comment.
Speaking to Sky news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news about these plans in January, Neil Brown, the MD of law firm decoded.legal, said: "Even though this legislation has received quite a lot of attention, I doubt most internet users will be aware of what looks like an imminent requirement to obtain a 'porn licence' before watching pornography online.
"The government's own impact assessment recognises that it is not guaranteed to succeed, and I suspect we will see an increase in advertising from VPN providers in the near future."
VPNs or virtual private networks are a privacy technology which allows users to tunnel their internet communications through a third party. This would enable users in the UK to avoid any censorship requirements imposed by sites on users connecting from in the country.
"The legislation can be used to compel ISPs to block access to non-compliant websites," added Mr Brown.
"Worryingly, this does not involve a court, and it expressly permits 'overblocking' - the blocking of 'material other than the offending material'."
Mr Brown added: "It is highly unlikely that this is consistent with human rights law."
