Page 57 - Payout Magazine Online Volume 8.4

The fact that the BBFC would be assigned do they have that it will remain private and
this role has been known as far back as 2016, secure? Even if a company doesn’t use the data
but the status did not become official until they for their ends, how safe are the servers against
were appointed last month (Feb 2018). a hacking attempt? If such records exist, they
will be a prime target for hackers to gather data
The biggest challenge faced by the BBFC they can use as ammunition for blackmail.
is to determine appropriate measures for age
verification. mindGeek, the owner of Pornhub,
along with many other adult-oriented properties, With mandatory age-verification finally
recently outlined their plan for implementing entering the picture we must also consider
age verification on each of their sites. social sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter,
and Reddit - to name a few. It’s not possible for
AgeID uses an encrypted login procedure these sites to censor every piece of content
and can work on any site which utilizes the posted by their billions of users worldwide, so it
same system. The main advantage of AgeID is is inevitable that lines will be crossed regarding
that it does not gather loads of personal data age appropriateness of material that makes it
but requires just enough to be able to inform a online.
site that the visitor is over 18 years of age.
Will these sites also fall under the guidelines
Mindgeek plans to license out AgeID to imposed on adult-oriented sites, and will they
larger operators but will provide the service to
smaller, independent sites for free. This brings be issued with the same punishments for
into question whether it is ethical to allow one infringements?
massive adult entertainment company the
means to dictate how other sites in the UK verify an act which so blatantly affects such a
the age of their visitors. significant industry is sure to create contention,
and the imminent implementation of age-
Bear in mind that adult entertainments verification has certainly attracted its share of
sites are a global industry, with other countries very vocal naysayers.
watching the uK closely to see how effective
their measures for policing porn sites turns out. introducing mandatory age-verification
If successful, the UK’s system will likely become systems has been labelled “ridiculous” and
a template for other countries to follow. “dangerous” [*1] – with many proponents of
net neutrality voicing their concerns over this
It goes without saying that most people
won’t be happy with the new age verification section of the Digital Economy Act overhaul. The
measures. With Facebook always in the news of criticism comes from a reluctance to hand over
late for misusing their customer’s data for their what may be excessive powers of censorship
own profit, it’s no surprise that many visitors to to ISPs and the government, which many think
porn sites will be wary about giving up even the already have too much power over our privacy.
barest minimum of data to yet another online
business. We are still yet to see how age verification
will play out for online businesses operating in
Many will be worried that their online travels the adult entertainment sphere. Only time will
to various adult-oriented sites will leave a tell how the new laws influence adult-oriented
trail of breadcrumbs, with their personal data companies, how effective it is at protecting
being collected and stored in some mysterious our young people from seeing inappropriate
repository on the internet.
content, or if it is just another avenue to collect
data with which to manipulate the public
The Mindgeek AgeID system needs to follow
its members around to every site to ensure a consciousness.
smooth login process each time. Who’s to say
records aren’t being collected and collated for
[*1] Theresa May’s New Porn Law is Ridiculous
some future nefarious profit-seeking venture?
but Dangerous, [Website article], retrieved from
Do records exist somewhere outside of the https://www.redpepper.org.uk/theresa-mays-
users own computer, and if so, what assurances new-porn-law-is-ridiculous-but-dangerous/

PayOutMagazine 57