From next month, porn sites will be required to get proof of ID from UK residents. They will use a system called ageID which requires users to verify the age via an official form such as a driver’s licence or passport.
Sites like PornHub will require age verification or will find themselves blocked in the UK.
Users will then be able to use their AgeID username or password to access all porn sites that use AgeID – though some may use different age verification systems.
Clark said: "It is a one-time verification, with a simple single sign-on for future access. If a user verifies on one AgeID protected site, they will not need to perform this verification again on any other site carrying AgeID."
The idea is genuinely daft and part of the UK’s Digital Economy Act 2017. The politicians will prove that claimed that it would make it harder for those under the age of 18 to get their paws on adult material.
Of course, like many politicians, the people who voted for the law were more stupid and less technically illiterate than the people they were hoping to ban. The whole operation comes unstuck by using a VPN for registering your age ID using someone else’s passport.
As well as registering with AgeID, Brits will also be able to access porn sites using a voucher you can buy from high street shops. Thousands of shops will offer the special ID cards, which users can link to an app known as Portes.
Through Portes, they can then login to sites without having to hand over their email address.
The PortesCard is available to purchase from selected high street retailers and any of the UK’s 29,000 PayPoint outlets as a voucher.
The new rules are expected to come into effect on April Fool’s day although it has been pushed back several times before.
Sites face fines of up to £250,000 or a blanket block by UK internet service providers if they do not comply with the rules. Regulators will be also able to block porn websites if they fail to show that they are denying access to under-18s.
The move has also worried some internet experts who feel that the new system will threaten people’s privacy. You are effectively asking people to tell their credit card company that they visit porn sites.
