British authorities release age verification guidelines requiring ``face recognition'' and ``bank account information sharing'' in response to mandatory age verification on pornographic sites

The British Broadcasting and Communications Authority (Ofcom) has released a draft guideline summarizing ``age confirmation methods that pornographic sites should introduce to prevent children from using pornographic sites.''

Guidance on age assurance and other Part 5 duties for service providers publishing pornographic content on online services
(PDF file) https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/272601/guidance-part-5-annexe-2.pdf

Consultation: Guidance for service providers publishing pornographic content - Ofcom
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations-and-statements/category-1/guidance-service-providers-pornographic-content

Implementing the Online Safety Act: Protecting children from online pornography - Ofcom
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/news-centre/2023/implementing-the-online-safety-act-protecting-children

In the United Kingdom, the ``Online Safety Bill'' was passed in September 2023 to protect children from harmful information on the Internet, and it requires operators of websites and SNS to limit the viewing of harmful content to those under the age of 18. 'We do not allow anyone under the age of 13 to create an account.' Newly, Ofcom has published draft guidelines showing age verification methods for operators of pornographic sites.

The ``effective age verification methods'' that Ofcom is asking porn site operators to implement are as follows.

・Open banking
It verifies the user's age by asking for access to 'age information tied to their bank account.' There is no need to share your full date of birth at this time.

・Presentation of photo ID
It asks users for a photo ID, such as a driver's license or passport, and checks their age against a real photo.

・Face age estimation
It asks users to upload a photo of their face and estimates the user's age from the photo.

・Using mobile phone carrier's age verification system
We will verify your age using the age verification system operated by some mobile phone carriers.

·credit card
In the UK, you must prove that you are over 18 years old when applying for a credit card. Therefore, we can verify whether a user is over 18 years old by asking them to upload their credit card information and verifying whether the card is valid or invalid.

The UK's Online Safety Bill is scheduled to come into force by 2025. In addition, some states in the United States have enacted laws requiring stricter age verification, but the major porn site PornHub has strict age verification as it is difficult to balance strict age verification and privacy protection. Access from protected areas is blocked.

PornHub, a major adult site, announces that it will block access from states that require age verification by law, what is the reason for blocking even if access decreases by 80%? -GIGAZINE