The internet might not be anything new, but what we have seen over recent years is an increase in how often we’re using it, who is using it and how we access it. Smartphones and mobile devices means that the internet and the whole range of services that it offers are accessible on the go – meaning that for many of us, we’re using the internet more than ever. This accessibility means that young children are also accessing the internet whenever they want, so keeping them safe is something that we should all be taking into consideration.
Source: trinustech.com
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Changes the UK is Considering
The UK is once again considering making it a legal requirement for adult websites to introduce age verification, either through credit card or ID verification. This legislation has been considered multiple times and has always been thrown out, but with such concern around the content that younger people are consuming, there is more of a chance that it could go ahead.
A lot of the concern revolves around privacy concerns. Sex is still a taboo subject in the UK, and for a lot of adults, the thought of their ID being linked to sexual preferences is unacceptable. However, adult websites wouldn’t be the first to introduce age verification.
Accessing Adult Entertainment Online
Age verification has been a feature of gaming and casino websites for several years. Initially, websites are required to complete age verification checks within 72 hours of sign up. These rules were then strengthened in 2019 to make it a legal requirement to verify a user’s age before they are allowed to deposit any money. Largely, age verification on gambling websites is something that the industry welcomed. However, there are still some off-shore websites that use cryptocurrency and their website location to get around the ban.
The world of iGaming has had verification controls in place for a long time – for example, the casinos found on TopRatedCasinos will still require users to pass the necessary verification checks first before they can deposit and withdraw. These have been in place for some time and it is down to gambling operators to ensure that they have checks in place to check that users are legitimate when using their services. Photo ID is a must when accessing online gambling websites, and those that are unable to provide this will largely find that online gambling is something that is not open to them.
Source: verifymyage.co.uk
Industries That Use Age Verification
The gaming industry isn’t alone with age verification – websites that sell alcohol have been required to check the age of all website visitors for several years. Having said that, it seems strange that alcohol websites only ask for users to enter their date of birth rather than providing proof of age.
If the bill is approved, the adult entertainment industry will be one of many industries to regulate the age of their users. However, even if it doesn’t go ahead there are several ways that parents can keep their children safe.
Keeping Your Own Children Safe When Using The Internet
One of the easiest ways for a parent to keep their children safe is to look at the settings on the home Wi-Fi router. Most Wi-Fi routers will have a setting that allows you to filter websites for adult content, or even ban specific websites. This can be set up by accessing the web address on the back of the router and entering the admin password.
Another way to keep children safe is to add blocked websites on their laptops or phone. Most web browsers have parental control tools that are password protected and allow you to ban certain websites or an entire category of websites. You can also find parental controls on most mobile phones and even on some games consoles. These parental controls are much more flexible, allowing you to control how much time they spend on certain apps or categories of apps. You can control which apps they are allowed to download, or even set an age restriction on the apps they can download. All apps are required to be rated, so you could set it so that no apps marked age 13+ can be installed. In addition to this, you have the usual parental controls over which websites your child can visit.
If you want to give your child a sense of freedom but you worry about what they might be able to access, there are multiple apps that will show you all of the data on their phone. You can set it for several different levels in order to give your child some privacy; for example, you could set it to collect all data on the apps they download and the websites they visit but not the contents of their phone or what they do on the websites. It’s also possible to set it so that you have access to your child’s messages. This would help you to see what would and wouldn’t be a threat to them and take appropriate action.
Source: aifs.gov.au
The Future for Age Verification and the Internet in the UK
With so much discussion around privacy and child protection at the moment, there is the temptation to wait and see what the government do before taking action yourself. However, there are so many methods that you can try to keep your child from accessing content that’s potentially harmful to them that it’s worth doing some research. It took several decades for the government to write age verification for gambling websites into law that it could be the same with adult websites – why wait for the government when you can protect your child yourself?
Whatever happens with regards to age verification, there are likely to be some changes happening in the future – especially as the internet continues to be part of our lives in such a big way and so easily accessible to people of all ages – so we’ll have to wait and see what the future holds for age verification rules within the UK.
