On Thursday, 16 January 2025, Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator, published guidance and opened a consultation on effective age verification checks to prevent children from accessing online pornography and protect them from other harmful content. The guidance marks the latest stage in regulating the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA) and requires providers of adult services which allow pornography or certain other types of harmful content to introduce robust age assurance measures no later than July 2025.
The consultation closes on 5 March 2025.
In a statement responding to the publication of the guidance, James Baker, Platform Power Programme Manager at Open Rights Group said: "Protecting children online is vital but we need to ensure that both children's and adult's privacy and security are not undermined in the process. Some of the verification methods that Ofcom has defined as highly effective could put people at risk of new cybercrimes. The roll-out of age-verification is likely to create new cybersecurity risks. This could take the form of more scam porn sites that will trick users into handing over personal data to 'verify their age'."
A separate statement from Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch, said: "There is a broad spectrum of age checking methods, including dangerously intrusive methods like biometric face scans and even ID cards and passports for internet access. We must avoid anything like a digital ID system for the internet that would both eradicate privacy online and fail to keep children safe."

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