a “double anonymity” age verification system will be tested in March

Access to porn sites should soon be more secure. As of March, the government will test an age verification solution in “double anonymity” in order to block the access of minors to pornographic sites, announced Tuesday, February 14, before the deputies, Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister Delegate in charge of Digital.

During a hearing before the delegation for children’s rights, the minister reaffirmed the government’s desire to require pornographic sites to actually verify the age of Internet users, in order to block access to minors. A file in the process of succeeding at the end of a legal battle with the sites concerned.

The opinion of the Cnil and Arcom expected

“We are working to bring out an age verification solution that respects a principle of double anonymity”, he explained on Tuesday. What does that mean ? “Whoever provides the certificate of majority does not know what it will be used for. It can be a telecom operator, a digital identity provider or any other organization likely to certify a person’s majority. And the site on which the certificate is used does not know the identity of the person. This is the principle of double anonymity”.

This announcement comes as the Cnil and Arcom must publish their opinion on the recommended technical solution. Age verification systems must not only respect privacy but also resist circumvention tools like VPNs.