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    Reddit’s UK users must now prove they’re 18 to view many types of content
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    Reddit’s UK users must now prove they’re 18 to view many types of content

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    44 Comments

    1. newbathgrad on

      Anyone got a good vpn they trust?

      Not that bothered about Reddit atm but all my favourite porn sites are starting to do this or will start doing this. Would rather not give dodgy sites likely based in Russia any more of my personal info. They probably have enough videos of me having a wank

    4. 00DEADBEEF on

      I have a 16 year-old account. What are the chances I was 2 when I signed up?

      Fuck off.

    5. denyer-no1-fan on

      Not surprised, it’s one of the reasons Reddit locked all the NSFW subs out with an API. I wonder how much of Reddit’s traffic comes from there.

    6. llamaz314 on

      I’m sure this will save all the children!

      On an unrelated note I’ve invested my life savings into VPN companies

    8. oncemorein2thebeach on

      That’s good – we’re teaching our young people to become more tech savvy and security conscious by encouraging them all to learn about VPNs.

    9. smthingawesome on

      I still have NordVPN from when visited one of those countries that don’t allow free access to the internet. So it’s nice to see UK is about as free as an authoritarian regime.

    10. Budget-Employ-1621 on

      Another website for me to use a VPN on them.

      It’s stupid how we have to give over details like ID just to view certain content.

    11. andymaclean19 on

      I’m in the UK and have not noticed any changes. I have not been asked to verify either. Am I just too boring?

    12. phangtom on

      The bigger problem is that the UK is leaning more and more towards censorship and government playing Big Brother.

      Police arresting and charging people for what they say online (for now due to “hate speech”) and now they’re effectively also going to be able to identify you by forcing all these companies to obtain a record of your ID. Incredibly slippery slope.

    13. evenstevens280 on

      Yeah no way I’m giving my photo and ID to a private company to let them know I watch porn

      What are the odds they’re gonna have a major security breach in the next year? Almost inevitable.

    14. englishal on

      Anyone else not verified with an email? I created my account before email verification was required. What we gonna do?

    15. NegKDRatio on

      So I already have a VPN. I’m probably just gonna leave it auto connected from now on. Is it fastest when I choose the closest country to me? (Ireland) or are there specific countries that are best?

    16. ohthedarside on

      How is this not a breach of any rights

      The internet used to be the last free area of life now its even more restricted what are we china?

    17. talligan on

      Sending your ID to a 3rd party to view pornographic content has a very high privacy bar to clear. There are enough words like “promise” in that article that I don’t think this meets bar.

      Guess I’ll go without onlyfans model ads

    18. GreatBritishHedgehog on

      The U.K. is adopting all the bad parts of China without the modern tech and GDP growth

    19. ziplock9000 on

      “We have tried to do this in a way that protects the privacy of UK redditors. To verify your age, we partner with a trusted third-party provider ([Persona](https://withpersona.com/)) who performs the verification on either an uploaded selfie or a photo of your government ID” A US based company no less…

      Fuck that…

    21. CatCalledTurbo on

      In case anyone is interested here is a breakdown of sorts for the Ofcom regulations.

      https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/online-safety-act-explainer/online-safety-act-explainer#who-the-act-applies-to

      In my humble pleb opinion this will solve absolutely nothing and if anything will probably cause more issues on the “THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!” front. Kids will seek out porn, by having this in place all you’ll be doing is forcing them down a rabbithole towards more sketchy sites that don’t give a shit about this ruling.

    22. oncemorein2thebeach on

      I would say that this is performative bollocks and the government know that we know it, but what happens when they start talking about the VPNs that people are using to circumvent the age verification and how they need to do something about them………..

    23. Hyperbolicalpaca on

      I don’t suppose that anyone more informed than me could explain how on earth a selfie verification is supposed to prove… anything? Other than being really invasive?

      Because I know teenagers who could pass for their 20s, and at least one 25 year old who looks about 14, and what really is the difference exactly in the face of a 17 year old, to an 18 year old?

      It just seems weird lol

    25. hoodha on

      We are being shamed out of using porn. Nobody wants to link their ID to their porn profile.

    27. Stuf404 on

      Whatever party green light this is going to have their popularity polls tank. Next election the party who promises “free porn!” will win

    28. SinisterPixel on

      I have spent many years explaining to people that VPNs are not security/privacy tools and should not be treated as such. And most people should not be subscribed to one.

      Now that I’ll need to hand over PII to view content the UK Government deems to be 18+, I’ve changed my stance. This sort of overreach is an excellent use case for a VPN

    29. KD_thaKai on

      This does fuck all but cause headache for users and whatever company has to keep or validate id.

    31. RadiantStar44 on

      This is actually mad; we should not have to use our government ID just to access 18+ content. It’s a very slippery slope imho and a violation of privacy.

    32. FTWinston on

      And will the UK government implement a mechanism for doing this in a privacy-respecting way? No? Oh well.

    33. appletinicyclone on

      So what’s the workaround?

      I am am a grown arse 30 something and do not want to give some shoddy third party thing my payment details or my face or my id

      Why isn’t privacy guides all over this

    34. Inevitable_Bid_6827 on

      Yeah reddits going down the hill for me, there’s no chance in hell they’re getting my ID and access to user data.

      VPN inc.

    35. PackageOk4947 on

      I’m pretty much the same with the others, my account is over a year old, but I’m 46, I’m not giving you guys my photo, fuck off.

    37. AceOfSpades532 on

      I’m not giving my id to a company, I remember when accounts could just be made, then you had to have emails, now it’s this shit, what’s next, Reddit needing full address and bank details?

    38. Thestickleman on

      This online safety act is ridiculous

      Probably one of the least safe online acts they’ve ever done

    39. running_on_fumes25 on

      Its not showing up for me. Might be because I used a VPN to create the account…?

      Oh well

    41. ArmNo7463 on

      I’m getting old. I remember everyone kicking off over this shit 10 years ago and the Government backing down.

      Depressing to see them get away with it this time, with little resistance.

    42. Jaraxo on

      For those saying they’ll just get an AI photo, that won’t work. These systems are used by banks for regulated anti-impersonation checks, they’re pretty sophisticated. They take a video selfie and a photo of your ID, and do a comparison. You usually can’t upload an existing photo of the ID, it has to be one you took in real time.

      If AI could get around this, then our banking system is fucked because pretty much every major bank uses this tech from one of a handful of companies to verify ID of applicants, from current accounts to loans and credit cards.

    44. Vaxtez on

      The whole idea of demanding ID to view content is an absolute hellhole in terms of data security. I sure as hell do not trust my ID in the hands of some US startup with a ToS that likely breaks the UK’s data protection act/GDPR.

      Besides, it’s my own god damn business what I look at & nobody else’s, I don’t want it being tied to me personally that i’ve watched something NSFW online. The whole idea of online privacy seems to be vanishing in the name of ‘Protecting kids’ (Really just government overreach to monitor) or in order to protect large companies because god forbid a broke 14 year old wants to play a paid £80 game or watch a foreign movie/TV series for free.