Canada’s proposed Bill S-209, which addresses online age verification, is currently making its way through the Senate, and its passage would be yet another mistake in tech policy.

The bill is intended to restrict young peoples’ access to online pornography and to hold providers to account for making it available to anyone under 18. It may be well-intentioned, but the manner of its proposed enforcement – mandating age verification or what is being called “age-estimation technologies” – is troubling.

Globally, age-verification tools are a popular business, and many companies are in favour of S-209, particularly because it requires that websites and organizations rely on third parties for these tools. However, they bring up long-standing concerns over privacy, especially when you consider potential leaks or hacks of this information, which in some cases include biometrics that can identify us by our faces or fingerprints. [...]

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[–] Cracks_InTheWalls@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 months ago

Time to boost a specific local business and go back (...I mean, not really, I only ever had one and I won it, fun story actually) to buying porn DVDs.

[–] RaskolnikovsAxe@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

This bill is garbage.

If it's protecting teens, believe me they know how to sail the high seas.

This is puritan security state nonsense. It's meant to appeal to the socons

[–] IndridCold@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 months ago

Because kids won't access porn from other countries websites where they don't require age verification?

It's like MAGIC!

[–] FreshParsnip@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 months ago

When I buy weed online, I have to input my date of birth. But I always wonder, is anything stopping someone from lying?

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