The UK wants children to be unable to access porn, this is a task that is not so easy. After creating an anti-cloud filter a few years ago to block these websites, now they want to buy them a special pass that is only sold in kiosks, as reported by The Telegraph.
To buy this card you will have to identify yourself in the sales kiosks to prove your age, something with which they believe the minors cannot access. The identification will have to be done through the identity card, although it will also be valid to use the driver's license or passport.
This movement is part of legislation that the British government announced a couple of years ago to verify the age of people who enter pornographic content from the country. It is a rule not without controversy since the UN warned that age verification controls violate human rights.
All this works by the filter with which the government blocks pornographic websites. The idea is that when accessing it, a 16-digit code will be requested, which will be precisely in the cards that will have to be bought in the kiosk. The price of these cards, if the measure goes ahead, will be around 10 pounds, about 11 and a half euros to change.
If this development is been approved because the measure is part of legislation that is currently being drafted could change several things. However, since its initial concept gives the feeling that little to be able to do to prevent minors who want to access porn.
In addition to prepaid cards, adults will have another alternative to access these types of pages without having to go to the kiosks. It is a system that will unlock them in exchange for entering the information on the credit cards, leaving that information in the hands of porn websites with the possible risks that may entail.
Putting doors to the field
Although it is not fully drafted and we do not have the technical details of how they are going to carry it out, at first glance, it is presented as an idea that will only affect minors with less knowledge. And we have seen more times than with using VPNs this type of blockages can be skipped relatively easily.
As for giving the credit card information to the pages through the blocking system, this also has its risks. Porno websites are one of the favorite targets of cybercriminals, so if another case like that of Ashley Madison happens, all that information could end up filtered on the net. It is not something that will necessarily happen, but there are possibilities and precedents that can happen.
And then we have another common case in this type of blockages. We have seen it in cases such as the fall of Kickass Torrent when access to an important website is blocked, others soon arrive to take their place. In this case, the UK filter for porn pages would become a game of cat and mouse blocking webs that start to gain notoriety while new ones are being born.