UK.gov threatens to make adults give credit card details for access to Facebook or TikTok
- Reference: 1644335026
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/02/08/age_verification_for_social_media_ukgov_plans/
- Source link:
Internet use age verification – first floated and then abandoned via the country's [1]2017 Digital Economy Act – will return in the UK's Online Safety Bill, digital minister Chris Philp MP has vowed, linking the technology, widely criticised by privacy activists, to protecting children from pornography websites.
Websites targeted by the government will be forced to submit to "a new legal duty" requiring them "to put robust checks in place to ensure their users are 18 years old or over."
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Government messaging tried to suggest this would be imposed on dedicated pornographic websites.
[3]
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Yet in the small print this morning's [5]statement from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said it would go further than the failed effort via the Digital Economy Act. That act "did not cover social media companies, where a considerable quantity of pornographic material is accessible, and which research suggests children use to access pornography."
The new focus on social media companies will impact Britons' ability to talk to friends and family on TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and potentially any other platform where users can post their own content.
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DCMS's statement read: "If sites fail to act, the independent regulator Ofcom will be able fine them up to 10 per cent of their annual worldwide turnover or can block them from being accessible in the UK. Bosses of these websites could also be held criminally liable if they fail to cooperate with Ofcom."
Critics speak out against age verification, anti-encryption measures
Daniel Pryor, head of research at the Adam Smith Institute think tank, condemned this morning's announcement, saying in a statement: "The government seems determined to shaft civil liberties in its misguided crusade against pornography. Age verification is easily circumvented by any tech-savvy teen with a VPN."
"Adults would be forced to enter personal information like passport or credit card details – a gift to scammers – and would be left at greater risk of being caught with their pants down in the event of a data breach," he added – a warning that will resonate with many Reg readers.
Similarly the Open Rights Group [7]launched a campaign condemning the government for its "decision to wage war" on encryption – a technology that will need to be halted and reversed for the Online Safety Bill's ambition to proactively scan social media posts to become a reality.
In an open letter, signatories including former MI5 intelligence officer Annie Machon, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the Open technology Institute stated: "Contrary to what the Home Office claims, leading cybersecurity experts conclude that even message scanning 'creates serious security and privacy risks for all society while the assistance it can provide for law enforcement is at best problematic.' Backdoors create an entry point for hostile states, criminals and terrorists to gain access to highly sensitive information. Weakening encryption negatively impacts the global internet and means our private messages, sensitive banking information, personal photographs and privacy would be undermined."
[8]Well, well, well. Fancy that. UK.gov shelves planned pr0n block
[9]Campaigners warn of an 'algorithm-driven censorship' future if UK Online Safety Bill gets through Parliament
[10]Age verification biz claims no-payment model for 40% of Brits ahead of July pr0n ban
[11]There's NordVPN odd about this, right? Infosec types concerned over strange app traffic
Age verification – if at first you don't succeed...
Like money, personal data sticks to the fingers of whoever handles it. The UK government has promised that its favoured [12]age verification providers will resist the temptation to exploit it, although many are unconvinced. And it isn't the first time these concerns have been raised.
Prior efforts for mandatory age verification controls were originally supposed to be inserted into Digital Economy Act but were [13]abandoned in 2019 after more than one [14]delay . At [15]that time , the government had designated the British Board of Film Classification, rather than Ofcom, as the age verification regulator. In 2018, it estimated that legal challenges to implementing the age check rules could [16]cost it up to £10m in the first year alone .
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As we pointed out at the time, despite what lawmakers would like to believe – it's not a simple case of taking offline laws and applying them online. There are no end of technical and societal issues thrown up by asking people to submit personal details to third parties on the internet. However, privacy, technical and legal implications put paid to that project.
The newer effort, via the Online Safety Bill, will possibly fuel Britons' use of VPNs and workarounds, which is arguably [18]equally as risky : free VPNs come with a lot of risks and even paid [19]products may not always [20]work as advertised .
DCMS's [21]earlier plans on the Online Safety Bill to adjudicate content that it considered "legal but harmful", were slammed by critics, who argued that "the definitions of the content [social media companies] have to manage out of existence ... are vague, and set at a very low threshold."
Just yesterday, the US's [22]Internal Revenue Service abandoned its plan to verify the identities of US taxpayers using a private contractor's facial recognition technology after both Democrats and Republicans actively opposed the deal.
The agency currently uses controversial private facial recognition service ID.me to verify IRS.gov accounts.
Oregon senator Ron Wyden opined of the move that "no one should be forced to submit to facial recognition to access critical government services" and that "privacy and security are not mutually exclusive." ®
Get our [23]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2018/03/22/uk_smut_age_check_deep_dive/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YgKhuU22qlPjbz9SLpu3gQAAAIY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YgKhuU22qlPjbz9SLpu3gQAAAIY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YgKhuU22qlPjbz9SLpu3gQAAAIY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/world-leading-measures-to-protect-children-from-accessing-pornography-online
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YgKhuU22qlPjbz9SLpu3gQAAAIY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.openrightsgroup.org/publications/experts-challenge-govts-anti-encryption-campaign/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2019/10/16/age_verification_pornblocking_plans_shelved/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/23/online_safety_bill_legal_type_legal_say/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2019/05/08/age_verification_biz_claims_no_payment_model/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2019/04/26/nordvpn_strange_traffic_domains/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2018/03/16/age_verification_providers_promised_kitemark_next_week/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2019/10/16/age_verification_pornblocking_plans_shelved/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2018/03/12/age_check_delay_adult_content_government/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2018/03/22/uk_smut_age_check_deep_dive/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2018/10/17/age_verification_legislation_bbfc/
[17] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YgKhuU22qlPjbz9SLpu3gQAAAIY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2019/05/08/age_verification_biz_claims_no_payment_model/
[19] https://www.theregister.com/2019/04/26/nordvpn_strange_traffic_domains/
[20] https://www.theregister.com/2018/11/19/vpn_app_investigation/
[21] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/23/online_safety_bill_legal_type_legal_say/
[22] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/07/irs_facial_plan_scrapped/
[23] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
If I was being cynical, I'd say forcing people to prove who they are before being able to access social media makes it easy for the Government to crack down on activist/opponents.
On the flip side, it should be able to make it easy to identify foreign bot accounts, unless they all register using the same credit card from Mr Sergei Meerkat.
"make it easy to identify foreign bot accounts"
Will the law require the sites to age verify everyone, or just those in the UK?
Re: "make it easy to identify foreign bot accounts"
Just those in the UK since it's a UK law.
How to stop it dead.
Tell the politicians that by stripping e2ee that means everyone's porn habits will become open public knowledge. Including their own.
"How do you consider your chances of reelection if your porn habits were to become public knowledge?"
Oh look! The proposed legislation has been "tabled until certain technical issues can be addressed." Ding dong that bitch is dead. Which old bitch? This wicked snitch! Ding dong the wicked glyph is dead!
Re: How to stop it dead.
Don't be daft. The Government will vote themselves, their familys (including their children, no doubt) and their sycophants an exception "for security reasons".
The new law(s) will only apply to the common people.
Re: The new law(s) will only apply to the common people
As is evidenced in the USofA by the snail's pace of the investigation into a certain GOP representative from Florida.
And the reluctance to arrest No 45 and his henchmen.
etc
etc
Our [redacted] in Westminster are amateurs in comparison which ironically is a good thing.
Teenagers
I expect the average 15 y.o. teenageris more tech savvy than their parents, and will get around this easily - not that some parents don't give a shit about their kids anyway on the Internet anyway.
Plus it will become a challenge for the teens to do so anyway.
Re: Teenagers
That word "challenge". I don't think it means what you think it means.
British government threatened this morning
or else?
Much cheaper plan:
How about allowing Parents to actually Parent?
If the UK Government doesn't think that modern parents are capable of parenting, surely the entire Government should resign, based on the fact that they don't think the UK's parents are capable of making proper Adult decisions, which presumably includes voting.
Re: Much cheaper plan:
I think its less about whether they're capable I'm almost certain most are, the problem is do parents want to pay attention to what their kids are doing online probably not, I suspect a lot would say they don't have time, which they almost certainly do but can't be bothered.
Re: Much cheaper plan:
@jake
"If the UK Government doesn't think that modern parents are capable of parenting"
The joy of the creeping nanny state is the people telling the gov they want more nannying. Which of course results in stupid ideas like this.
Absolutely brilliant idea!!
First thing that will happen....all the sane people with an ounce of common sense will finally have something that makes them think twice about even clicking anywhere near the crapfest that is social media, especially Facecrap, Twatter, Instasham and YouSluice.
I got suckered in, 9 months of checking my phone every 10 mins all day until I realised I had a serious problem! I gave my logins to my wife, she locked them with passwords she generated and I've not been back on since. That was 3 years ago now. My wife uses them to market our small business and that's all. She has more self control than me.
Social media is mostly an aspirational crapfest, designed to get people addicted and depressed that their lives are not as supposedly wonderful as those they see on social media. The quicker social media is taken out and burned in the market square, the quicker humanity can carry on with the plan to keep evolving.
anything that will speed up the demise of FB
and the other MSSM platforms the better IMHO.
Humanity at large will be better off for it. don't try finding me on MSSM as I'm not on any of it. Never have, never will.
MSSM = main stream social media.
Tory Government Promises the Impossible
Aha, another "Tory Government Promises the Impossible" story.
Ho hum.
Idiocy
Many credit cards, including mine, allow you to set up one-time card numbers that you can use. The CC company knows which real card is behind the fake number, and the fake number can be used exactly once and never again. So send the snoopers a fake number. It's useless to anyone who hacks their site. If possible, send a fake address, too. 935 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC, is a popular choice. 300 E Street SW, Washington, DC, is also popular. In the UK, Whitehall. London SW1A 2HB or perhaps 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ might be useful. Alternative addresses for those in other countries are left as exercises for the student.
Dead Cat
I guess this is a dead cat moment for Boris, just a load of unworkable noise to show they are doing something.