Government drops risky age verification plan
Open Rights Group (ORG) has been warning about major privacy risks in plans for age checks on adult websites since they were proposed in the Digital Economy Act 2017.
After numerous delays the unworkable plan was finally dropped in 2019, averting a massive privacy risk for millions of UK residents.
GET THE FACTS ON AGE VERIFICATION
Learn moreThere’s absolutely no question children must be protected from harmful content – but age verification remains a flawed plan that would create new problems instead. Its privacy protections were merely optional for companies and would have prompted the creation of vulnerable records of the public’s porn preferences. That could lead to people being outed, blackmailed or having their careers destroyed.
The Government has yet to say what it will do to protect children from adult content – but says plans will be contained in the next Online Harms Bill. Groups who have promoted this “silver bullet” policy aren’t going to give up just like that.
Thanks to help from our supporters, Open Rights Group was able raise the alarm about age verification’s privacy risks and convince the Government they were making a huge mistake.
The Story So Far
Age Verification is dead – for now
Open Rights Group welcomes this change for two reasons.Jeremy Wright needs to act to avert disasters from porn age checks
The government rejected Parliamentary attempts to include privacy powers over age verification tools, so DCMS have limited possibilities right now.We met to discuss BBFC’s voluntary age verification privacy scheme, but BBFC did not attend
We invited all the AV providers we know about, and most importantly, the BBFC, at the start of February.We asked the BBFC to warn the Government about the dangers of age verification
On the 23rd April 2018, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) closed their consultation on their age verification guidelines for online pornography.Scrap the DEBill Age Verification and censorship – before it is too late
The Bill is an example of how not to legislate for the Internet and complex social issues.Website blocking will open up age verification to credit card fraud
Currently the BBFC are pinning their hopes on being able to specify some kind of privacy and safety standard through their ability to regulate “arrangements” that deliver age verified material.Age verification for porn sites is tricky so let’s try censorship
The amendment has been tabled because MPs understand that age verification cannot be imposed upon the entire mostly US-based pornographic industry by the UK alone.More Information
15 July, 2019
Open letter to DCMS – BBFC Age Verification Privacy Certification Scheme
The Rt Hon Jeremy Wright QC MPSecretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport100 Parliament StreetLondon SW1A2BQ15
July 2019
Re: BBFC Age Verification Privacy Certification Scheme
Dear Secretary of State,
We write to ask you to legislate without delay to place a statutory requirement on the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) to make their privacy certification scheme for age verification providers mandatory.
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13 June, 2019
Analysis of BBFC Age Verification Certificate Standard June 2019
About Open Rights Group
Open Rights Group (ORG) is a UK-based digital campaigning organisation working to protect fundamental rights to privacy and free speech online.
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07 November, 2018
Analysis of BBFC’s Post-Consultation Guidance
Printable PDF version
Summary
The new code has some important improvements, notably the introduction of a voluntary scheme for privacy, close to or based on a GDPR Code of Conduct.
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25 May, 2018
Written Submission to House of Lords Communications Committee enquiry on Internet regulation
Click here to see video and transcript of oral evidence session
The Internet: to regulate or not to regulate?
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25 April, 2018
Response to BBFC Age Verification Consultation
On the 23rd April 2018, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) closed their consultation on their age verification guidelines for online pornography.
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14 March, 2017
Digital Economy Bill Briefing to House of Lords Report Stage
This briefing is also available in PDF format.
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27 January, 2017
Digital Economy Bill Briefing to House of Lords Committee Stage
Open Rights Group (ORG) is the UK’s only digital campaigning organisation working to protect the rights to privacy and free speech online.
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09 December, 2016
Digital Economy Bill Briefing to House of Lords
This briefing is also available in PDF format.
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29 November, 2016
Digital Economy Bill Briefing to House of Commons at Report stage
This briefing is also available in PDF format.
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12 September, 2016
Digital Economy Bill: Briefing to the House of Commons on Second Reading
This briefing is also available in PDF format.
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Press Releases
17 January, 2020
Age Verification Judicial Review endangers UK citizens’ privacy
Reacting to the Judicial Review launched by Tech companies to force Age Verification for adult content to be implemented (1) Jim Killock, Executive Director of the Open Rights Group said:
“These companies are asking us to trust them with records of millions of people’s sexual preferences, with huge commercial reasons to use that data for profiling and advertising.
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16 October, 2019
Government drops Age Verification plans
Reacting to news that plans for Age Verification for adult content have been halted, Jim Killock, Executive Director of Open Rights Group said:
“Age verification for porn as currently legislated would cause huge privacy problems if it went ahead.
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15 July, 2019
DCMS urged to make porn privacy scheme compulsory
The letter notes that the BBFC privacy standard contains broadly-worded provisions that allow age verification providers to write their own rules and that there are no penalties for providers who sign up to the scheme and fail to meet its requirements.
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20 June, 2019
NEWS RELEASE Age Verification delay is an opportunity to fix privacy in porn block
Executive Director Jim Killock said:
“While it’s very embarrassing to delay age verification for the third time, this is an opportunity for the Government to address the many problems that this ill-thought through policy poses.
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14 June, 2019
ORG report: BBFC age verification standard is pointless, misleading and potentially dangerous
From July 15, people in the UK are expected to prove they are 18 if they want to watch porn online.
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17 April, 2019
‘Dangerous and irresponsible’ age verification goes ahead
Reacting to the government’s announcement on age verification for adult content, Jim Killock Executive Director of Open Rights Group said:
“The government needs to compel companies to enforce privacy standards.
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27 February, 2019
BBFC fails to explain its porn privacy scheme at meeting 300m from its office
Pornographic websites will soon have to verify the age of their website visitors, under the Digital Economy Act 2017.
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12 March, 2018
Age Verification pushed back
The deadline for the implementation of the Government’s potentially disastrous Age Verification scheme has officially been pushed back to ‘before the end of the year’.
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14 December, 2017
Open Rights Group respond to news BBFC proposed as Age Verification regulator
Responding to the news that the BBFC are in line to be appointed Age Verification regulator, Jim Killock Executive Director of the Open Rights Group said:
“The BBFC will struggle to ensure that Age Verification is safe, secure and anonymous.
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17 July, 2017
Age verification plans put web users’ privacy at risk
Executive Director Jim Killock said:
“Age verification could lead to porn companies building databases of the UK’s porn habits, which could be vulnerable to Ashley Madison style hacks.
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12 May, 2017
FOI response reveals porn company’s proposals for UK to block millions of porn sites
MindGeek, who are also developing Age Verification technology, said that the Government’s plans to prevent children from seeing pornography would not be effective unless millions of sites could be blocked.
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27 April, 2017
Parliament votes to put privacy in hands of porn companies
The Digital Economy Bill (DEBill) will require that porn sites verify the age of their users in order to prevent under 18s from viewing pornography.
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15 December, 2016
Government admits that Twitter could be forced to block accounts for UK users
Please sign the petition against these proposals
Proposals in the Digital Economy Bill will allow the BBFC to compel Internet Service Providers to block websites that don’t comply with age verification.
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29 November, 2016
MPs vote for a national censor
Amendments to the Digital Economy Bill were accepted by MPs during its third reading yesterday.
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03 November, 2016
MPs propose web blocking for porn sites
Executive Director Jim Killock said:
“Perhaps these MPs have realised that plans to make all adult websites apply age verification are unworkable as foreign porn sites may simply not comply.
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13 September, 2016
Digital Economy Bill could lead to Ashley Madison style data breaches
Age verification for porn sites
The DEB includes plans to oblige porn websites to set up age verification to prevent under 18s from seeing adult content.
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06 July, 2016
Open Rights Group response to Digital Economy Bill
The Bill includes welcome proposals that mean UK homes and businesses have a right to access Broadband.
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