UK porn website age verification laws to come in on 15th July
BBFC to oversee age-verification process, awarding certificates to providers that achieve privacy and data security standards
The government's mandatory age-check measures for adult websites will come in on the 15th July, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has announced today.
The measures will be overseen by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). If sites outside the UK fail to comply with the law, internet service providers could be ordered to block access to them.
However, many sites that host pornographic content, such as Twitter, Reddit, 4Chan and Imgur, won't have to comply with the measures because they apply only to websites where more than one-third of a site or app's content is deemed pornographic.
There have already been suggestions that age-verification measures could be extended to cover non-pornographic websites
Furthermore, the measures don't apply, either, to non-commercial sites. And users that want to access such filtered websites without passing an identity or age-verification check can continue to do so using either Tor or virtual private network to circumvent any blocks.
Margot James, minister for digital and creative industries at the DCMS, claimed that the controls were required because it is too easy for children to access adult content online.
"The introduction of mandatory age-verification is a world-first, and we've taken the time to balance privacy concerns with the need to protect children from inappropriate content. We want the UK to be the safest place in the world to be online, and these new laws will help us achieve this," said James in a statement today.
The DCMS claimed that the checks "should only be concerned with verifying age, not identity", with an age-verification service being provided by third parties.
We want the UK to be the safest place in the world to be online
Age verification providers will need to comply with the EU's General Data Protection Regulation and equivalent UK legislation, post-Brexit, and the BBFC has created its own voluntary certification scheme that age-verification providers, and the websites they support, can adopt.
An Age-Verification Certificate (AVC) will be awarded to providers that reach certain data security standards in a scheme developed by the BBFC and NCC Group. NCC will conduct the audits, which will "include an assessment of an age-verification provider's compliance with strict privacy and data security requirements", according to the DCMS. Qualifying providers will be able to display the BBFC's new green AV symbol.
Details have been published on a specialist BBFC age-verification website. The website also has a ‘Report a website' function for people to report pornographic websites that don't comply with the law.
The measures are part of the Digital Economy Act 2017, which also allows greater data sharing between government departments, requires ISPs to block all pornographic content unless subscribers opt out, mandates mobile operators to offer monthly spending caps to subscribers, and introduces a wind-in-the-hair 10 megabits per second Universal Service Obligation.
The IT Leaders' Summit is back - coming to London on 23 April.
This year, it will focus on 'Driving the Digital Roadmap for the Enterprise'. Speakers include Shivvy Jervis, The Trainline's Mark Holt, NatWest's Tom Castle McCann's Matt Groshong and a special keynote from a high-profile tech leader and visionary. For more details - and to reserve your place - check out the dedicated website. Places are FREE to qualifying CIOs, IT leaders and senior IT pros, but are going fast!