Yoti Explains Delay of UK’s Porn Regulation

Last month, Yoti and AgeID teamed up to create an age verification platform that will allow users to view pornographic content without sharing any personal information. The partnership was formed in anticipation of a UK law that was slated to go into effect on July 15^th, which would have required proof-of-age for anyone viewing explicit material online.

The ‘porn block’ has since been delayed due to a rather embarrassing administrative error. The UK government failed to notify the European Commission about the proposed legislation, which means that it will be at least six months before the block becomes law.

The upshot is that online pornography is still unregulated in the UK, where anyone is legally allowed to visit sites with explicit content. Some sites do require age checks, but doing so is strictly voluntary, and without government oversight, the sites that offer age checks may not be meeting the reliable authentication standards expected in other industries. The new law would have given regulators some teeth, allowing the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) to block certain sites and/or issue fines as large as £250,000 for failing to perform adequate age verification.

Yoti is pushing its technology as a potential solution for sites looking to avoid those fines and ensure compliance once the porn block does go into effect. The company has officially received the BBFC’s Age Verification Certification Standard, making Yoti’s ProveMyAge an approved age verification platform that could also alleviate people’s privacy concerns.

With Yoti, users can prove their age through the app, or with a facial recognition scan that will clear anyone estimated to be over the age of 25. In both cases, people do not need to disclose any personal information beyond the fact that they are over the age of 18, which helps to keep both children and adults safe while engaging online.

(Originally posted on Mobile ID World)