LONDON, UK—July 15 is the date that the UK Government has announced that its age verification law for adult content websites will go into effect. This means that all adult websites targeting UK traffic will have to ask users to prove that they are over 18 years old in order to view the content.
According to the UK government’s official rules, porn sites must check the age of users or risk facing sanctions. This new approach is the first of its kind in the world, and puts in place the same protections that exist offline. Stricter measures will be put in place to protect user’s data and privacy. The UK will become the first country in the world to bring in this type of age-verification for online pornography.
Online businesses will need to implement age verification for their websites if they fall into one or more of the following categories:
* Free adult content website e.g. tube site
* Membership paysite for adult content
* VoD streaming of adult video content
* Adult anime (cartoon) content
* Retailing +18 products e.g. adult DVDs, adult magazines, adult books, etc
* Advertiser/affiliate landing page to sell or describe adult products
* Blog featuring adult content, adult retail products
* Adult dating/hookup website
* Livecam website that includes nude, semi-nude models and/or sexual acts
Escort services website
* Any other website displaying adult content
Websites that fail to implement age-verification technology face having payment services withdrawn or being completely blocked for UK users.
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) will be responsible for ensuring compliance with the new laws. They have confirmed that they will begin enforcement on July 15, following an implementation period to allow websites time to comply with the new standards.
Regarding user privacy, age-verification solutions should only be concerned with verifying age, not identity. In addition, providers should comply with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) standards.
AgeGO is being marketed as the perfect age verification solution for adult online businesses. AgeGO offers several methods of verification including:
* Verification by scanning of photo identification of a current Passport or current driving licence
* Verification with a UK mobile phone and its 3G carrier or via an SMS text
* Verification with credit card details
* And other methods that will be detailed in the coming weeks
Privacy is of paramount importance to AgeGO and no personal data is stored of users that it verifies.
AgeGO is quick and easy to implement because it is a self-service platform. Business owners can sign up and upload their website’s logo and instantly create branded AgeGO widget tags. The tags are fully responsive and work across all devices (desktop, mobile and tablet). Integration is as simple as adding a short JavaScript code to the business owner’s website.
Once implemented, when a UK user visits the website, the AgeGO age verification widget will appear on the home page, blurring out the home page’s content. The user then selects one of the verification methods and follows a few on-screen prompted steps to complete the verification process. If the verification is successful, the user gets instant access to the full content on the website.
Businesses also get additional benefits from using AgeGO, including full access to advanced statistics in their dashboard for full control over the age verification flow to improve their user pass rate and control costs.
Businesses can find out more about how AgeGO can ensure that they don’t lose UK traffic by clicking here.
