A sex-streaming giant has announced that it will collect data on anyone accessing its porn stash – but will not record their sexual preferences.
MindGeek - the biggest internet pornography company in the world - will collect information, including users’ addresses and ages, under new age-verification laws.
The new Digital Economy Act means that anyone accessing porn must prove they are old enough – over 18 in the UK. Firms are currently scrambling to figure out how they will verify ages and could demand the collection of card data or ID documents.
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MindGeek, the firm behind adult websites PornHub, YouPorn and RedTube, is not being ordered to store the additional information but bosses plan to do so. The company, which also owns pornography production studios including Brazzers, will use a verification system called AgeID by which a user can create a login and use a third-party mechanism to prove they're over 18. MindGeek will then charge other pornography sites to use its solution.
A spokesperson for MindGeek told Sky News: "AgeID has been built from the ground up with data protection, data minimization and the principles of privacy by design at its core, whilst also complying with the GDPR.
"This is why we do not store any personal data entered during the age-verification process," they added. "Due to the encrypted nature of AgeID's login credentials, such data cannot be exposed in the unlikely event of a hack."
When it comes into force, the UK will be the first democratic country in the world to require users to prove their age in order to access porn. Despite MindGeek suggesting that tens of millions of people will sign up to it, the AgeID system is likely to put some off because of the data it stores.
The program will find the names, postal addresses, nationalities, dates and places of birth, email addresses, mobile phone numbers and demographic information of its users. The firm notes that this information can be used by AgeID "to develop and display content and advertising tailored to your interests on our website and other sites."
The policy also states: "We also may use these technologies to collect information about your online activities over time and across third-party websites or other online services."
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