A third of minors consult at least one pornographic site each month, according to a mediametric study Posted May 25. To prevent such inquiries, the Digital Ministry announced in early March that it wanted to experiment with a “double anonymity” age verification solution for to block the access of minors to pornographic sites. Double anonymity is being tested by trusted sites and third parties, including the Dorcel group, it says le figaro.
Since 2021, five sites have been prosecuted by Arcom, including Pornhub, for failing to comply with a 2020 law that requires them to verify, using specific tools, the age of their internet users before accessing the site. On July 7, the Paris court must decide whether access to these five sites should be blocked.
This double anonymity solution is based on a “trusted third party”, that is, the verification is carried out by a service external to the site. This can be a telecommunications operator, a digital identity provider or any other organization capable of attesting to the majority of a person without being able to link to the pornographic site.
Experimentation with a company from Marseille
Without communicating the identity of the user, this trusted third party must actually confirm to the pornographic site that the latter is of legal age, in order to authorize the connection. Please note that this double anonymity system is based on the recommendations of the CNIL.
After tests with various trusted third parties, the Dorcel group will test the solution by GreenBadg, a Marseille company founded two years ago with an investment of 100,000 euros. 10,000 visitors will be affected.
To consult the Dorcel site and prove their age, the user must register with GreenBadg. You are then asked to provide identification and a selfie video. IDNow (formerly Ariadnext) performs a verification of the identity document from which the date of birth is extracted and the correspondence between the photo and the selfie video.
Once verified, the user receives a credential valid for three years. Then, the user will only have to scan a QR code on the corresponding site to certify that she is of legal age. The data collected by GreenBagd is hosted on the Clever Cloud.
GreenBagd’s solution will extend beyond pornographic sites such as CBD or alcohol sites, its founder specifies. “The idea is that it is a multi-purpose badge.”
In the facts
But this double-blind solution runs into several difficulties. The user journey is extended. So, the implementation of this solution is based on the willingness of the platforms to establish partnerships with these trusted third parties and to create a verification protocol dedicated exclusively to French Internet users.
As the National Commission for Informatics and Liberties (CNIL) pointed out in 2022, the request of these trusted third parties is not without risk: these companies would have in their possession a database containing identity documents and lists of pornographic sites viewed.
Another difficulty concerning supervision: sites based abroad and less important than industry giants continue to offer access to all Internet users, without age verification. Double anonymity is also easily circumvented by installing a VPN.
For its part, the Dorcel group advocates less strict solutions without double anonymity with a simple verification of identity or bank fingerprint.
The government will give Arcom the power to order, without the assistance of a judge, the blocking by operators and the removal of pornographic sites that do not prevent minors from accessing their content.
Source: BFM TV
