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UK age verification legislation will lead to a porn habit database (archive)
The country is eager to protect children from porn. It's a worthy goal, mind you, given that research shows that exposing kids to porn can be damaging. Unfortunately, it's a quixotic goal, given that porn is impossible to block. Nevertheless, the UK is now on the brink of creating a database of the country's porn habits.
It also seems poised to hand the age verification piece of that puzzle over to an outfit that Vice refers to as "the shady company that controls the majority of free porn tube sites." That company is called MindGeek. Vice likens it to the Walmart of porn. Britain's leading obscenity lawyer, Myles Jackman, says it supposedly owns about 90% of tube sites on the internet, and it didn't get that way by making friends in the industry.
[...] And now, MindGeek, the WalMart of porn, is getting ready to become even more filthy rich by having maneuvered itself into the position of becoming gatekeeper for consumers of porn, be they adults or kids who don't know how to use a virtual private network (VPN). It's not a done deal quite yet, but MindGeek has had several conversations with officials. It's also currently pushing its own age verification platform, AgeID. If selected, Britons could be dealing with AgeID as the principal gate between themselves and their porn.
(Score: 5, Funny) by isostatic on Thursday November 30 2017, @08:50PM (4 children)
A generation of teenagers will learn how to set up VPNs, a valuable life skill
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Thursday November 30 2017, @09:39PM (2 children)
Bad news. Too many people start using VPNs they'll soon go the way of net neutrality.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 01 2017, @12:17AM (1 child)
... and for promoting the growth of government interference?
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 01 2017, @05:14AM
> promoting the growth
That's what she said!
(Score: 2) by gidds on Sunday December 03 2017, @10:33PM
Every time we discuss anything related to net privacy, censorship, or tracking, VPNs are mentioned as a solution.
And I really don't see it.
If you don't use a VPN, then your ISP can see everything you do online, and anyone else can track you to the ISP's endpoint.
If you do use a VPN, then your VPN provider can see everything you do online, and anyone else can track you to the VPN's endpoint. Plus your use of a VPN makes you stand out as (apparently) having something to hide.
Why is the latter any more secure than the former?
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