Recent searches
Search options
I came around the idea of stricter enforcement of age verification for online services. But the way it is implemented doesn't make any sense. I wouldn't trust porn sites with any personal information of mine.
I like the idea France is working on, a double anonymity age verification service. A third-party (hopefully the government) is used to verify your age and generate a token and that token can be used on any site to verify your age. The site verifying your age doesn't know for which service you are generating the token and the site doesn't have any access to personal data.
Whether or not pornographic material should be accessible to people under the age of 18 is another topic. I am not sure what a good age cut-off would be. But I definitely agree that there should be an age limit.
Doesn't the (government?) site that provided the token learn which site it was for when that site requested the token be verified?
No, if done correctly the site verifying the token should only need to verify it was signed by the authority token provider.
The workflow:
0) Site I visit gets public key from authorities.
1) I visit the age-verifying site.
2) They direct me to the appropriate authority.
(Perhaps learning something about my location?)
3) I provide whatever age proof is needed.
(Perhaps learning which site directed me there?)
4) I take the token from the authority and give it to the site from step 1.
(They certainly learn which authority knows about me.)
A 4th party seems to be needed.
Right now the system is still just theoretical so the specifics are undefined. But the idea is that they wouldn't. I assume they could still figure it out by tracking the IP addresses of those who access the token and matching it to a company. But the company doesn't have to send a request. I assume you are just generating a link that says "This person is age X". So the link itself serves as the verification. The link would only be valid for 5-15 minutes, so you can't just steal it to impersonate someone else.