New porn age-checker can be side-stepped in seconds: UK government’s system to protect children is easily duped by fake email and credit card
- Government confirmed Wednesday that the new system will become mandatory
- It’s an effort intended to stop children accessing inappropriate material online
- But the Guardian found that the law can easily be bypassed in just minutes
The UK’s new porn age-verification system can be sidestepped in seconds using a simple Google search and fake verification details, it is claimed.
The government confirmed on Wednesday that the new system will become mandatory on 15 July, in a move intended to help prevent children accessing inappropriate material online by making it necessary to sign up to watch porn.
Porn sites sign up voluntarily and now, competitors bidding to become the official gateways to adult material are now jostling for the rights and one that claims to be the ‘global age-verification specialists’ were found to be porous.
Websites that fail to implement age-verification technology face having payment services withdrawn or being blocked for UK users.
The new law is intended to prevent youngster accessing inappropriate material
The Guardian were able to verify an account with the email address IAmUnder18@mailinator.com in a matter of seconds with AgeChecked.com, by generating a non-existent credit card number to access porn.
The system was first tested by Channel 4 last week as part of the channel’s Mums Make Porn documentary.
It was hailed as a success by AgeChecked.com, who said the system works by requiring that people provide a form of ID, an age-verified telephone number, or a credit card.
Upon hearing of the Guardian investigation findings, AgeChecked’s chief executive, Alastair Graham, said it was a first ‘dry run’.
He added: ‘That’s quite interesting … That’s within the capabilities of someone relatively young. I think we’re going to swap that method out.’
He also said that there is a ‘certain level of frustration’ as we edge closer to the date without clarity on how robust the system will be.
Porn websites that sell adult content, or provide it free of charge but earn money from advertising, will have to employ companies that provide age checks.
The government says there will be a number of age-verification options available, ‘so a user can choose what’s right for them.’
They add that the ‘checks will be rigorous – you won’t be able to just type in your date of birth or tick a box.’
Age-verification solutions range from the use of credit cards or passports to mobile phones where the adult filters have been removed. Users can also use digital IDs or buy a card over the counter in a shop where the verification is face to face.
Graham said the earliest The British Board of Film Classification, the body responsible for vetting competing age-verification providers, would accredit providers is the start of July, just two weeks before the legal implementation.
The comments come amid concerns that it will be implemented before it’s actually ready, for political reasons.
‘All of us want more clarity on what is and what is not the correct level of robustness. We’ve been given steers but nothing solid,’ he told the Guardian.
Concern from privacy campaigners promoted a surge of interest in the topic as there were fears about the amount of sensitive data that would be held as a result of the legislation.
The government said it had taken privacy concerns into consideration and the age-verification checks would not aim to establish the identity of individuals.