Millions Of Age Checks Performed As UK Online Safey Act Gets Rolling

The UK government has reported that an additional five million age checks are being made daily as UK-based internet users seek to access age-restricted sites following the implementation of the Online Safety Act."

The figure comes from the Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA), according to the UK's Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, headed by Peter Kyle. The same Peter Kyle who posted "If you want to overturn the Online Safety Act you are on the side of predators. It is as simple as that."

The UK's Online Safety Act is now in force (since July 25), meaning that, according to the UK government, users under the age of 18 should be protected "from harmful content they shouldn't ever be seeing." This includes content such as pornography, eating disorders, self-harm, and so on.

This is achieved by mandating that platforms use age verification methods, such as facial scans, photo ID, and credit card checks. Failure to do so risks a fine of up to 10 percent of global revenue or £18 million, whichever is greater.

The UK government has insisted that users following the steps now required by providers to prove their age "won't be compromising their privacy." Campaigners against the legislation arent so sure.

"The measures platforms have to put in place must confirm your age without collecting or storing personal data, unless absolutely necessary." (the UK government's emphasis, not ours.)

"Many third-party solutions have the ability to provide platforms with an answer to the question of whether a user is over 18, without sharing any additional data relating to the user's identity."

That's quite a lot of wriggle room. However, the UK government has insisted that data must be handled using "safe, proportionate and secure methods" and a failure to protect it could result in "heavy penalties."

It's not as if private data regularly gets blurted out on the internet following data breaches.

VPNs, which can be used to circumvent the restrictions, remain legal. Trying to ban the services would result in the UK having some questionable bedfellows, including Russia and China, all of whom have implemented bans on the technology. Actually implementing such a ban would be challenging from a technological perspective.

Perhaps mindful of some of the criticism levelled against the act, the UK government said, "The very same law places clear and unequivocal duties on platforms to protect freedom of expression."

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Elon Musk's social media mouthpiece, X, came out swinging at the end of last week with a post entitled "UK's Online Safety Push Shows What Happens When Oversight Becomes Overreach" in which it suggested that the act's intentions, while laudable, risked being "overshadowed by the breadth of its regulatory reach."

"When lawmakers approved these measures, they made a conscientious decision to increase censorship in the name of 'online safety.'

"It is fair to ask if UK citizens were equally aware of the trade-off being made."

While searches for VPN services have surged in the UK, with four-figure percentage increases being reported, the figures published by the UK government indicate that many citizens are opting to share their details to access age-restricted content. ®