How will age verification for porn work and what about your data?
Credit card age checks
How it worksYou provide your credit card details and a payment processor checks if the card is valid.What are the privacy issues?Age verification firm Verifymy says when you carry out this check on its service, a two-factor authentication check and a mini transaction with no exchange of money takes place, similar to checking into a hotel. "No personal data gets passed on to an adult platform in any way. It is simply a yes or no as to answering a question: is this individual over 18?", said Andy Lulam, Verifymy's chief operating officer.The 5RightsFoundation - an online child safety charity - said credit card checks, along with the photo identification and digital identity verification methods, offered high levels of assurance especially when the data was well protected, but "carry significant privacy risks if not designed and managed appropriately".
Digital identity services
How it worksThese include digital identity wallets, which can securely store and share information which proves your age.What are the privacy issues?Omari Rodney is the chief product engineer for Yoti.He told BBC News once a document such as a passport was examined and verified, all parts of it were then separated and encrypted. The only person who could decrypt it was the individual."We can't see that information unless we get permission from you," he said.Luciditi, another verification firm, said the user could choose to share a part of their identity - that they were over the age of 18.Ms Jarvie, however, thinks digital wallets - along with open banking - "can feel disproportionate" as a method to prove you are over 18.
Email-based age estimation
How it worksYou provide your email address, and technology analyses other online services where it has been used - such as banking or utility providers - to estimate your age.What are the privacy issues?Verifymy are one of operators, and it told the BBC its research identified this as the method users would be most comfortable with.Mr Lulham says the technology checks if an email has been used to interact with a range of websites such as financial institutions.Verifymy said data could be kept for up to 28 days, but added it would often be less, would be encrypted, and no data would be shared with the website being accessed.
Facial age estimation
How it worksYou show your face via photo or video, and technology analyses it to estimate your age.What are the privacy issues?A verification company would typically check if it is a human, only one person, and not a picture.Yoti use an AI model to determine a person's age. While facial age estimation "can be accurate", Ms Jarvie said her research indicated many people would not be comfortable using this method.
Mobile network operator age checks
How it worksYou give your permission for an age-check service to confirm whether or not your mobile phone number has age filters applied to it. What are the privacy issues?Yoti looks at who the bill payer is, and if it is an adult paying for a child's phone - such as on a family plan. The mobile operator is asked to confirm the age of the person, but would not know which website they intend on accessing.Verification company OneID has the user log into their digital ID via their phone number, with the mobile operator confirming if the person is over 18.Verifymy said pay as you go numbers wouldn't be compatible - users would need to have a phone contract.
Open Banking
How it worksYou give permission for the age-check service to securely access information from your bank about whether you are over 18.What are the privacy issues?OneID uses this method if a user cannot verify they are over the age of 18 via their mobile operator.While OneID does not see your transactions, it would see your account number and sort code during its one-off check - but says it does not keep any details.OneID founder Rob Kotlarz accepts users may be reluctant to show their bank details so they can access an adult website."It is the right thing to protect children," he told BBC News. "We are offering a simpler way of checking someone's age. If it is simple and seamless, why wouldn't you do it to protect the kids?"
Photo ID matching
How it worksYou upload an image of an ID document that shows your face and age, and an image of yourself at the same time. These are then compared to confirm the document is yours.What are the privacy issues?As well as UK documents, Yoti would allow the user to upload some from outside of the UK.Ms Jarvie believes photo ID uploads and credit card checks "feel outdated" and "highly intrusive".
Sign up for our Tech Decoded newsletter to follow the world's top tech stories and trends. Outside the UK? Sign up here.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
18 minutes ago
- Times
Prisons get ‘Minority Report' AI profiling to avert violence
Prison officers will use Minority Report-style technology to identify potentially violent inmates before they have launched an attack in a major expansion of artificial intelligence in the criminal justice system. Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, will on Thursday announce plans to give the prison service use of the artificial intelligence software. The AI violence predictor analyses factors such as a prisoner's age and previous involvement in violent incidents while in custody. This will help prison officers assess threat levels on wings and enable them to intervene or move prisoners before violence escalates — or before it breaks out at all. It will also inform decisions to put dangerous prisoners under tighter supervision. It has drawn comparisons with futuristic technology featured in the 2002 film with Tom Cruise in which a specialised police department named 'Precrime' apprehends criminals using foreknowledge provided by three psychics, or 'precogs', who can predict crime before it is committed. Mahmood's AI plan also includes a tool that can digitally scan the contents of mobile phones seized from prisoners, rapidly flagging messages that may provide intelligence such as inmates' code words. It will be deployed to enable staff to uncover potential for threats of violence to other inmates or prison officers as well as plans to escape or smuggle in weapons and other contraband. The phones, often used for gang activity, drug trafficking and intimidation, are a major source of violence in prisons, which has soared to record levels. The technology uses AI-driven language analysis and has been trialled across the prison estate, analysing more than 8.6 million messages from 33,000 seized phones. The plan also sets out proposals for the creation of a single digital ID for all offenders. AI will help link records across courts, prisons and probation for the first time, linking records that previous search systems may never have connected because of minor typos or missing words. This could lead to more effective monitoring and sentencing. Mahmood said: 'Artificial intelligence will transform the justice system. We are embracing its full potential as part of our Plan for Change. 'These tools are already fighting violence in prisons, tracking offenders and releasing our staff to focus on what they do best: cutting crime and making our streets safer.' The plan represents the government's latest effort to regain control of prisons in England and Wales as violence and drug use spirals. Being a prison guard has never been more dangerous — last year a record 10,605 assaults on staff were recorded, 15 per cent higher than the previous year and averaging 29 assaults on a prison officer every day. Research by the Ministry of Justice this year found a direct link between violence behind bars and overcrowding. Prisons in England and Wales are at 99 per cent capacity and, in August last year, had only 80 spaces left. The study found that inmates of overcrowded jails were 20 per cent more likely to be involved in assaults. Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons, warned in his annual report this month that jails were plagued with 'overwhelming' quantities of illicit drugs, mobile phones and other contraband. He said drone technology posed a level of risk 'different from what we've seen in the past' and was now so sophisticated that packages of up to 10kg were being flown over prison gates. Inmates were routinely offered a 'menu of drugs'. Taylor said there was also a 'theoretical possibility' that a drone could lift a prisoner out of jail in the near future.
Times
19 minutes ago
- Times
Regulators warn firms over car finance compensation claims
Consumers caught up in the motor finance scandal risk losing up to 30 per cent of redress by signing up to paid services they do not need, regulators have warned. In an intervention ahead of a major Supreme Court ruling on Friday, the Solicitors Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority, which have become increasingly concerned, have warned law firms and claims management companies over poor practices in commission claims. The FCA has already required 224 promotions to be amended or withdrawn over the past year and the SRA has 89 investigations into 73 law firms over potential breaches of its rules relating to high-volume claims. • Rachel Reeves may overrule Supreme Court over car finance scandal The prospect of the motor finance industry being forced to pay out tens of billions of pounds in compensation to borrowers has led claims firms to gear up for a bonanza and hit the share price of some London-listed lenders. The FCA will confirm within six weeks of Friday's Supreme Court judgment whether it will propose to introduce a redress scheme for motor finance customers. The judgment follows a review of a landmark ruling in October by the Court of Appeal, which concluded that any type of commission that was not properly disclosed to a borrower was unlawful. The regulators said they expect law firms and claims management companies to inform clients of any redress scheme, or where there is a 'realistic prospect' of one being introduced, which would allow customers to instead pursue a claim independently and free of charge. They must also alert them to charges if they do use a firm and must be clear on exit fees. The regulators are concerned about the 'volume and accuracy' of marketing materials, a failure to advise consumers about free alternatives, and 'inaccurate or misleading' information on the likelihood of success or payouts. Sheree Howard, executive director at the FCA, said: 'We've seen law firms and CMCs [claims management companies] advertising highly speculative figures, so we are warning them of our expectations when it comes to drumming up clients for motor finance commission claims … If we introduce a redress scheme for motor finance, we will aim to make it easy for people to take part.' Paul Philip, chief executive of the SRA, said: 'Where we find cases where firms are not acting in the best interest of their clients, we will investigate and take action.'
Times
31 minutes ago
- Times
Heathrow to announce third runway plans as PM unveils airport expansion
Sir Keir Starmer is poised to usher in the biggest expansion of Britain's airports for half a century as Heathrow prepares to unveil plans for a third runway. The prime minister is prepared to do 'whatever it takes' to ensure there are 'spades in the ground' by 2030 at Heathrow and on other major aviation projects. The government is also expected to formally approve plans for a second runway at Gatwick in coming weeks and is pressing ahead with the biggest ever overhaul of Britain's airspace to enable quicker flights and fewer delays. Ministers are also introducing legislation to curb the ability of campaigners to use judicial reviews to block infrastructure projects. Starmer said earlier this year that he would 'override the whims of nimbies'. Starmer is pressing for airport expansion in a bid to galvanise economic growth. 'He'll do whatever it takes on this,' a senior government source said. 'He's up for the fight. He views aviation as a key driver of economic growth.' By the end of Thursday, Heathrow will submit its proposals for a third runway, which is expected to cost between £45 billion and £60 billion. The plans are expected to include diverting a section of the M25 through a tunnel running underneath the new runway. The plans have proved hugely contentious in the past. They were first mooted as far back as 2003 but have been subject to years of delays, political opposition and legal challenges amid concerns over air and noise pollution. Ministers had set a deadline of July 31 for plans for expansion to be submitted. The Times understands at least two other schemes have been presented to the government from rival developers. Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, will review the submissions before a consultation on the airports national policy statement, the framework under which permission for a new runway can be granted. Only then can any full planning application be submitted. In January, Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, announced that the government wanted to push ahead with a third runway, arguing that sustainable aviation fuels were a 'game changer'. She said: 'The way that we fly has changed hugely in recent years. Engines have become so much more efficient, reducing carbon emissions, and also sustainable aviation fuel is changing the way that we fly. 'We want to see spades in the ground in this parliament. We have asked Heathrow to come forward with plans by this summer and then we want to grant that development consent order by the end of this parliament, so we can get the diggers in the ground to get this project up and running.' A third runway is expected to receive the backing of a majority of MPs if there is a vote in the Commons, although the issue is divisive. Sir Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, is strongly opposed and has suggested he is prepared to mount a legal challenge. Heathrow is expected to seek assurances from the government if it is to push ahead with the scheme and the investment required. Ministers are preparing to announce the creation of an Airspace Design Service, which will redraw the corridors planes use. It will be the biggest overhaul since their creation in the 1950s, when there were only about 200,000 flights a year, compared with 2.7 million last year. It will change the routes planes must take when flying in an attempt to increase efficiency and reduce air traffic control delays. Pilots routinely complain about the routing they must take when arriving at London-area airports, saying it adds unnecessary time to flights. A plane flying from Spain to Luton is often required to travel as far north as Cambridge only to turn around and head south for its approach. Similarly, flights from the US are regularly stacked east of London before turning back to land at Heathrow. The redesign of Britain's air space is integral to dealing with the additional traffic that would be caused by a third runway at Heathrow. The new runway would allow the west London airport to handle 276,000 new flights annually, taking the total to 756,000 a year, and 66 million more passengers. Starmer is also planning to curb the ability of environmental groups and other campaigners to bring legal challenges. The prime minister said earlier this year that the courts were being 'abused by pressure groups' to block vital projects. Under changes due to take effect later this year, campaign groups and local residents will be given a maximum of two chances to apply for judicial review of nationally significant projects, down from three. Challenges deemed by a High Court judge to be 'totally without merit' will be refused permission to appeal. The government is also expected to give its formal approval to bring Gatwick's second 'emergency' runway into regular use in coming weeks, provided there is a compromise on noise and public transport. Alexander said earlier this year she was 'minded to approve' the runway. She is expected to give it the final green light in the autumn.
