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Some worry that the technology used will violate privacy, but there are ways around this, as other countries are discovering.
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By: Azfar Adib
How often are you asked to verify your age while doing something online?
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It depends. We have to put our birth date in while creating accounts on social media or messaging apps, to fulfil their minimum age requirements. These apps usually do not ask for any proof of the age value we are putting there.
However, if we are buying something from the SAQ (Société des alcools du Québec) or Casino de Montréal websites, we have to share our proof of age. Products or activities such as alcohol, tobacco and gambling are restricted for adults-only sales.
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The House of Commons is currently reviewing Bill S-210, designed to restrict young persons’ online access to sexually explicit material. It proposes to enforce mandatory age-verification on certain sites containing adult content.
Such regulations already exist elsewhere. In 2017, the United Kingdom became the first country to enforce mandatory age verification. France passed a similar bill in 2020 to implement a nationwide age verification system for pornography websites. Close to three dozen states in the U.S. have already introduced or passed age-verification related bills for adult websites. The U.S. federal government is now prioritizing it, too.
Although Canada is not breaking new ground with this law, the Montreal-based company, Mindgeek, commonly known as Pornhub, is regarded as the top source of adult web content in the world. Mindgeek has been regularly accused of hosting abusive and non-consensual content on sexual exploitation.
These allegations have led to several lawsuits, financial turmoil, and an extensive investigation by the House of Commons ethics committee. Women and child rights activist groups have regularly demonstrated outside Mindgeek’s Montreal headquarters, demanding accountability and justice. Led by Quebec Sen. Julie Miville-Dechene, these ultimately accelerated the age-verification legislation.
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Not all content online is appropriate for kids. So age verification tools can assist to prevent child users from accessing some sites and apps. This is critical, given an alarming increase in online child exploitation across Canada. For instance, as reported by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, the number of online sexual luring cases involving children has increased tenfold in the last five years.
In fact, a significant number of cases remain unreported. Several incidents of teenage suicide caused by cyber-harassment have shocked the nation in recent years.
The United Nations has regularly urged states to strengthen protections for children, mentioning child sexual exploitation as “a global emergency.” Unfortunately, Canada ranks 30th out of 38 wealthy countries when it comes to the well-being of children and youth under 18, according to a 2020 report.
Some argue that mandatory age-verification may breach users’ privacy as it will require them to share sensitive personal information to prove their age. This challenge does exist, but there are different ways to overcome it through advanced technologies.
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For example, if users share their drivers’ licence for age-verification, AI-based tools can automatically read their birth date in a few seconds, then erase the document from the system, without any human intervention. EU countries have made this a legal requirement to comply with data privacy regulations.
Users can also get their age verified through another online account or a trusted third party, without sharing their ID documents. Another emerging option for age-verification is users’ biometrics analysis (facial image, handwriting, heart-signal etc.), which eliminates the need to collect any document or info.
Instagram, for instance, recently started testing “facial age estimation technology” in Canada.
Age verification is a proven tool for protecting kids online. Different countries have implemented it effectively.
It’s now Canada’s turn to do the same. The sooner it happens, the better.
Azfar Adib is a public scholar and doctoral candidate in electrical and computer engineering at Concordia University. His research focuses on anonymous age-verification technologies.
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