Category Archives: Age verification

No room for complacency

Posted on February 20, 2020 by

My last blog was fairly upbeat about the UK Government’s interim response to the consultation on Online Harms. True the response was light on concrete proposals but much of the language was excellent. The overall tone was tough and purposeful. … Continue reading →

Posted in Age verification, Child abuse images, Default settings, E-commerce, Internet governance, Regulation, Self-regulation, Uncategorized

The long and winding road

Posted on February 13, 2020 by

It has been a busy week in the UK. Yesterday the Government finally published  its “initial response” to the Online Harms consultation. That’s the consultation which was concluded in July last year (admittedly a lot has happened since then e.g. … Continue reading →

Posted in Age verification, E-commerce, Internet governance, Regulation, Self-regulation | 1 Comment

A big step with bigger implications

Posted on January 24, 2020 by

Earlier this week the British media were full of reports of the “Age Appropriate Design Code”. It had just been published by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s  data protection authority. The Code’s provisions are likely to become fully … Continue reading →

Posted in Age verification, Consent, Privacy, Regulation, Self-regulation

Movement on age verification?

Posted on January 19, 2020 by

R v Secretary of State for the Home Department, ex Parte Fire Brigades Union is  a famous case from 1995. It was decided by  our Supreme Court (then still called the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords). The Government … Continue reading →

Posted in Age verification, Pornography, Regulation, Self-regulation

Yesterday in Parliament – news and no news about porn

Posted on January 10, 2020 by

Yesterday was the final day of debate on the “Gracious Address” in the House of Lords. The Address had been delivered by Her Majesty on 19th December to mark the opening of a new Parliamentary year and a new Parliament … Continue reading →

Posted in Age verification, Child abuse images, Default settings, Internet governance, Pornography, Regulation, Self-regulation

A sad sequel

Posted on October 31, 2019 by

I have every sympathy for Nicky Morgan MP  who, last night, announced she was standing down from Parliament, essentially because she has had enough of being a politician. The abuse and the toll it was taking on her family life … Continue reading →

Posted in Age verification, Pornography, Regulation, Self-regulation

Age verification for porn sites. How we got here.

Posted on October 22, 2019 by

Online gambling in the UK began to take off in the early 2000s. It sprang out of the rapid growth of the consumer oriented internet. I was soon getting calls from distressed parents whose children, typically 14/15 year old boys, … Continue reading →

Posted in Age verification, E-commerce, Regulation, Self-regulation