internet Age Verification

The government of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez intends to implement age verification to access adult content on the internet across the board to prevent minors from viewing age-restricted websites. Spain's data regulator Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (AEPD) is developing a process to require web users to utilize a digital ID card.

The Royal Spanish Mint will be directed to develop the digital ID technology following recommendations from the AEPD. One format floated by the agency is that a user will download an app on their mobile device, a QR code, or some other type of digital document verifying their age through a government ID, health or residence cards, a driver's license, or a passport. AEPD claims that this approach minimizes risks of a data breach since third parties--such as a private sector age verification software vendor or a regulated platform--will not be able to access a user's sensitive personally identifiable information.

Unfortunately, there is no guarantee of sensitive personally identifiable information being safe in the hands of a government agency or private company. Consider a case that occurred in Louisiana, which was the first U.S. state to require an ID to view adult content. Seeking to comply with the law, the tube site Pornhub adopted an age verification solution that integrated with the state's digital identification app, LA Wallet.

Months after the deployment of LA Wallet by Pornhub, the company and the agency administering the digital wallet program were victims of a data breach. A local news report indicates that over 6 million records from the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles were exposed by hackers in June 2023. Names, addresses, ID numbers, social security numbers, height, weight and eye colors were exposed in a breach of a file transfer protocol.

Even with the best intention and risk mitigation, AEPD will not be able to completely prevent a breach of data. That is one major concern among critics of age verification.

A Canadian Senate committee amending the Liberal government's controversial Bill C-11 has added the requirement for online platforms to verify the age/identity of users accessing pornography, a move internet law experts say is likely unconstitutional.

Sen. Julie Miville-Dechene proposed the amendment, stating that online undertakings shall implement methods such as age-verification methods to prevent children from accessing programs on the internet that are devoted to depicting, for a sexual purpose, explicit sexual activity.

The committee passed the amendment, with seven senators voting in favour, five opposing it and two abstaining.

The amended version of the legislation must be approved by the full Senate and then go back to the House of Commons before it becomes law. #

It if does pass into law, it would be up to the CRTC to decide how to implement the age verification requirement.

Italy's data protection censor has ordered video sharing app TikTok to temporarily block the accounts of any users whose ages can't be confirmed. The order comes after the death of a 10-year-old girl in Palermo, whose parents told authorities their daughter was participating in a blackout challenge she saw on the app. The child died of asphyxiation, and authorities are investigating whether anyone invited her to try the challenge.

The Italian Data Protection Authority ordered TikTok to block unverified users in Italy until at least February 15th. The temporary suspension of unverified accounts in Italy bans TikTok from further processing user data for which there is no absolute certainty of age and, consequently, of compliance with the provisions related to the age requirement.

Under its terms of service, users must be at least 13 years old to sign up for an account on TikTok, but Italian authorities said it's easy to get around that rule. TikTok has a version of its app in the US for children under 13-- TikTok for Younger Users wich operates with limited content and interaction.

Earlier this month, TikTok updated the default privacy settings for users between 13 and 15 years old, putting limits on who can see and comment on their videos.

Back in September 2020, Google announced that it would be demanding identity verification for those wanting to watch videos Google has decided should be restricted to adults, Google explained:

In line with upcoming regulations, like the European Union's Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), we will be introducing a new age verification step over the next few months. As part of this process some European users may be asked to provide additional proof of age when attempting to watch mature content. If our systems are unable to establish that a viewer is above the age of 18, we will request that they provide a valid ID or credit card to verify their age.

Well now it seems that Google is now implementing this policy and several Melon Farmers readers have reported that they have been blocked from viewing adult rated videos on YouTube. Google demands either a credit card transaction or else hand over personal details on government issued ID.