Return of the Dead: UK Government’s ‘porn pass' age verification scheme is back in the game

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PostReturn of the Dead: UK Government’s ‘porn pass' age verification scheme is back in the game
by KK » Mon Feb 26, 2018 11:42 am

Sky News wrote:Porn giant MindGeek denies planning to snoop on UK viewers
The Digital Economy Act means porn watchers will have to prove their age, but a firm involved in monitoring says it won't snoop.

MindGeek, the biggest internet pornography company in the world has told Sky News it will not snoop on the sexual preferences of 25 million people in the UK under new age verification laws.

However, MindGeek also plans to collect a trove of information on users, including their names, addresses, date of birth, as well as their online activities on other websites.

From April, as part of the Digital Economy Act, anyone wishing to view pornography online will have to prove they are over 18 years old.

The mechanism for age verification is being left to the private sector. Among the companies developing solutions is MindGeek, which bills itself as a leader in 'Web Design, IT, Web Development and SEO [search engine optimisation]'.

MindGeek also runs some of the most viewed pornography sites in the world, including PornHub, YouPorn and RedTube - the so-called 'tube' sites - as well as production studios including Brazzers.

MindGeek anticipates signing up 25 million users in the UK to its age verification system, AgeID.

The system will require users to sign up with an email address and password, then use a third party mechanism to prove they're over 18. User will then use AgeID to access pornographic sites around the web; AgeID will log which sites are visited.

MindGeek will charge other pornography sites to use its solution. But because of its market dominance, campaigners fear it will end up the defacto age verification standard, handing even more power to the biggest porn provider around.

A spokesperson for MindGeek told Sky News: "AgeID has been built from the ground up with data protection, data minimisation and the principles of privacy by design at its core, whilst also complying with the GDPR."

"This is why we do not store any personal data entered during the age verification process," Mindgeek added.

"Due to the encrypted nature of AgeID's login credentials, such data cannot be exposed in the unlikely event of a hack."

However, the privacy policy for AgeID details a wealth of information the site may collect. It includes name, postal address, nationality, date and place of birth, email address, mobile phone numbers and demographic information, as well as searches made on AgeID.

It notes that this information can be used by AgeID "to develop and display content and advertising tailored to your interests on our Website and other sites".

The policy also says: "We also may use these technologies to collect information about your online activities over time and across third-party websites or other online services."


MindGeek has suffered high profile hacks in the past, with millions of people's personal information being stolen. A database of pornographic sites visited across the web for 25 million people in the UK would likely be a target for hackers.

Independent pornography producers in the UK are concerned about MindGeek's potential dominance.

Pandora Blake, a producer of queer pornography, told Sky News: "MindGeek already have a monopoly on production via having bought out a lot of different production studios and distribution via the tube sites.

"And now the government has handed them a golden cheque and they're going to have a monopoly on age verification, being the gatekeepers of online porn at this point."

The UK will be the first democratic country in the world to require users to prove their age to view pornographic content. The British Board of Film Classification has been designated as the regulator for age verification but has not yet been confirmed by Parliament.

This month the Department of Digital, Media, Culture and Sport laid out its guidance for age verification solutions. It did not suggest requirements for people's identity not to be tracked across the internet, merely suggesting it should be "good practice".

And the DCMS's own impact assessment report notes that age verification solutions could increase the risk of online fraud, as well as push children "to illegal and extreme material that they otherwise would never have come into contact with."

The DCMS refused repeated requests from Sky News for an interview. It gave this statement: "A wide variety of online age verification arrangements currently exist and so we expect that providers of online pornography will be able to choose the appropriate solution to meet their specific needs."

https://news.sky.com/story/porn-watcher ... s-11224093

The Verge wrote:MindGeek hasn’t opposed age verification as it’s made its way from proposal to legislation to a reality for the citizens of the UK. To the contrary, it’s actively on board with the idea: a Freedom of Information request to the UK’s Department of Digital, Culture, Media & Sport revealed a correspondence from as far back as fall 2016 in which MindGeek representatives expressed enthusiasm for the UK’s age verification plan. And now that it’s gone from proposal to reality, MindGeek has set up its own age verification platform called AgeID.

MindGeek has not always shown the same commitment in other areas. The company built its fortune on piracy, capturing its initial audience by distributing competitors’ content, for free and in full, on its network of tube sites. And it has long taken a laissez-faire attitude toward verifying the age of the actors seen on its site: when anyone is allowed to upload porn, a site can’t possibly have all the documentation required of adult content businesses.

Many people within the adult industry fear, the UK is just the first market to legally require consumers to participate in an age verification database. Giving away porn for free has never been the most profitable business model, but charging porn producers for age verification services could potentially rake in a decent amount of cash, particularly if those services become a requirement for running an adult business.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/23/1704 ... w-mindgeek

You'd have to be strawberry floating loon to sign up to this. I mean not being funny, but I'd rather call up my ISP over the phone and tell 'em "Excuse me, can you turn on the porno channel please" than agree to this nonsense. This has little to do with protecting the kids, rather it's just a money making exercise for all involved. Numerous market research companies already pay out money to those who agree to have their internet usage tracked via software (i.e. you effectively surf the internet for free and then some). It's the holy grail.

I think the UK is effectively being positioned as a trial run for this anyway, before being rolled out by MindGeek and others country-by-country. .

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PostRe: UK Government & porn industry's sinister age verification comes into force from April
by Lagamorph » Mon Feb 26, 2018 11:44 am

I already use a VPN connected to an end point outside the UK for all my porn anyway.

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PostRe: UK Government & porn industry's sinister age verification comes into force from April
by Garth » Mon Feb 26, 2018 11:46 am

MindGeek also plans to collect a trove of information on users, including their names, addresses, date of birth, as well as their online activities on other websites.

Sounds like a pretty damn juicy target for hackers.

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PostRe: UK Government & porn industry's sinister age verification comes into force from April
by Regginator3 » Mon Feb 26, 2018 11:46 am

Lagamorph wrote:I already use a VPN connected to an end point outside the UK for all my porn anyway.

Me too. Not that it's anything particularly dodgy :lol: Just don't like the idea people can take a peek at personal information like that.

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PostRe: UK Government & porn industry's sinister age verification comes into force from April
by KK » Mon Feb 26, 2018 11:59 am

This is all about creating databases, which everyone is obsessed with - from the government down to your supermarket.

Parental Controls were already turned on as standard by ISPs recently, which in turn have to be set up by an adult with a bank account and/or plastic anyway.

This is a way for certain sections of the porn industry to claw something back after the bottom fell out of their subscription model in the naughties.

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PostRe: UK Government & porn industry's sinister age verification comes into force from April
by That » Mon Feb 26, 2018 12:04 pm

Imagine being stupid enough to sign up for this.

25 million people in a personally-identifiable porn preference database. Will be scary when hackers blow it open, and it'll be one of the biggest targets on the net -- I give it 'til June.

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PostRe: UK Government & porn industry's sinister age verification comes into force from April
by Hexx » Mon Feb 26, 2018 12:09 pm

But I want to see naked people :(

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PostRe: UK Government & porn industry's sinister age verification comes into force from April
by more heat than light » Mon Feb 26, 2018 12:18 pm

Well I for one am looking forward to going back to the golden era of imagination wanks.

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PostRe: UK Government & porn industry's sinister age verification comes into force from April
by Lex-Man » Mon Feb 26, 2018 12:33 pm

Look on the upside, soon we're know what depraved gooseberry fool all the MPs are in to.

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PostRe: UK Government & porn industry's sinister age verification comes into force from April
by Lagamorph » Mon Feb 26, 2018 12:34 pm

lex-man wrote:Look on the upside, soon we're know what depraved gooseberry fool all the MPs are in to.

Aren't they exempt from this as usual?

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PostRe: UK Government & porn industry's sinister age verification comes into force from April
by FudgeDiver » Mon Feb 26, 2018 12:39 pm

I hope sadpanda wont be affected

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PostRe: UK Government & porn industry's sinister age verification comes into force from April
by Lex-Man » Mon Feb 26, 2018 12:42 pm

Lagamorph wrote:
lex-man wrote:Look on the upside, soon we're know what depraved gooseberry fool all the MPs are in to.

Aren't they exempt from this as usual?


How would they be able to get around the checks?

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PostRe: UK Government & porn industry's sinister age verification comes into force from April
by KK » Mon Feb 26, 2018 12:42 pm

Lagamorph wrote:
lex-man wrote:Look on the upside, soon we're know what depraved gooseberry fool all the MPs are in to.

Aren't they exempt from this as usual?

Nobody would be exempt with this method unless logging in from outside the UK or through a VPN as the porn websites are controlling it. You visit PornHub from April (if it's not delayed) and you'll need to set up AgeID to unlock it.

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PostRe: UK Government & porn industry's sinister age verification comes into force from April
by False » Mon Feb 26, 2018 12:43 pm

Imagine not being in private trackers and communities for the primo grot.

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PostRe: UK Government & porn industry's sinister age verification comes into force from April
by Hypes » Mon Feb 26, 2018 12:43 pm

Lagamorph wrote:
lex-man wrote:Look on the upside, soon we're know what depraved gooseberry fool all the MPs are in to.

Aren't they exempt from this as usual?

Only in parliament, which tbf appears to be where most of their porn watching occurs

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PostRe: UK Government & porn industry's sinister age verification comes into force from April
by Tineash » Mon Feb 26, 2018 12:44 pm

gooseberry fool government is gooseberry fool.

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PostRe: UK Government & porn industry's sinister age verification comes into force from April
by Lex-Man » Mon Feb 26, 2018 12:46 pm

Good news for tunnel bear I guess.

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PostRe: UK Government & porn industry's sinister age verification comes into force from April
by OrangeRKN » Mon Feb 26, 2018 12:54 pm

inb4 the hack

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PostRe: UK Government & porn industry's sinister age verification comes into force from April
by Rocsteady » Mon Feb 26, 2018 1:00 pm

Vpn recommendations, is TunnelBear the one to go for?

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PostRe: UK Government & porn industry's sinister age verification comes into force from April
by Lagamorph » Mon Feb 26, 2018 1:02 pm

I use NordVPN myself.
I think they or PIA are the usual recommendations.

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