Topics: Sex and Relationships, Life, Technology, Social Media, Crime
As of tomorrow (25 July), Pornhub - and other websites like it - will look very different as new legislation comes into play.
Gone are the days of simply ticking a box to prove users are 18 or over to access the explicit adult website, as much stricter age-verification checks will be employed on adult content websites, including Pornhub.
Any adults keen on accessing such material will now be subject to a 'non-exhaustive' list of technologies that may be used to verify ages with just a handful including; open banking, photo ID matching, credit card checks and email-based age estimation.
The move aims to protect children online, with Ofcom previously pointing to recent research which indicated that as many as eight percent of children aged 8-14 in the UK had visited an online porn site or app over a 28-day period (this included about three percent of eight to nine-year-olds, the survey suggests).
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However, some porn-watchers have shared their concerns over what the new age-verification checks could lead to.
A man named Tom, who is in his 20s and has been watching porn since he was a teenager, has expressed his worry about sharing personal data to access porn sites.
"It's not a question of if something will leak, but when," he told the BBC, concerned about how a leak of personal data could affect users, including those whose viewing habits could reveal their sexuality if they have not come out to friends and family.
Age verification companies told the BBC people should be reassured because firms don't retain data.
Shea, who is also in his 20s and watches porn daily, is also deeply concerned by the new restrictions.
"Please upload a face scan of your ID and passport? No thank you," he said.
He believes the need to prove your age will be off-putting to many people who want to access content quickly with few hurdles.
Instead, he thinks some will turn elsewhere in the hunt for adult content.
"It's just pushing people into the fringe of the extremes," he said. "It's not stopping you from watching porn."
Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom's chief executive, said in an announcement made back in January of this year: "For too long, many online services which allow porn and other harmful material have ignored the fact that children are accessing their services.
"Either they don't ask or, when they do, the checks are minimal and easy to avoid."
She went on to explain: "That means companies have effectively been treating all users as if they're adults, leaving children potentially exposed to porn and other types of harmful content."
Dawes previously added that companies which fail to meet the new age-verification requirements can 'expect to face enforcement action from Ofcom'.
"Services which host their own pornography must start to introduce age checks immediately, while other user-to-user services - including social media - which allow pornography and certain other types of content harmful to children will have to follow suit by July at the latest," she continued.
"We'll be monitoring the response from industry closely."
Tyla has reached out to Ofcom and Pornhub for further comment.
