Australia May Use Face-Scanning Tech To Keep Teens Off Porn Sites

Earlier this month, the United Kingdom abandoned its planned “age verification” system that was designed to prevent teens from checking out online porn sites. The law would have required U.K. porn surfers to upload government-issued identification documents that porn sites would use to verify that any particular user was over 18. By the time the repeatedly-delayed system was scrapped altogether, the British government had pumped $2.5 million into the porn block law that went nowhere, as AVN.com reported.  The British debacle, however, has not deterred the Australian government from pressing ahead with its own “age verification” porn blocking law—with what may now be an even more Orwellian twist.  According to the tech publication ZDNet, the Australian Department of Home Affairs has proposed repurposing a government-operated facial recognition database designed to prevent identity theft, to stop kids from visiting porn sites. The system would provide an extra layer of protection that would prevent underage porn enthusiasts from using, for example, a parent’s driver's license to circumvent an age-verification system, according to ZDNet. Though the Australian facial recognition system remains on hold for any of its intended purposes, the government has spent the past four years building out a photographic database of Australians, as well as immigrants applying to become Aussie citizens, according to an Ars Technica report.  Australia has even been hard at work on a facial recognition system that could supposedly identify people whose photos are not in the database at all. The system could be used to prevent underage Australians from accessing online gambling sites as well, the government said, according to the Australian news network 7 News. While the government also wants banks and telecom companies to have access to the face-scanning technology, those plans were recently blocked by a committee of the country’s legislature, perhaps understandably, “over fears it could lead to mass surveillance,” according to the 7 News report. Photo By teguhjatipras / Wikimedia Commons