Adults in the United Kingdom who want to view pornographic websites may need to buy a “porn pass” at their local corner store when new age verification laws are implemented later this year, according to the Telegraph.
The U.K. is cracking down on underage porn watching. The 16-digit code will be one option for the estimated 25 million U.K. citizens who regularly visit adult websites to prove they are not underage.
These passes will cost roughly $14. To prove their age, buyers will have to present a passport or driver’s license to the shopkeeper.
For citizens who might feel bashful about their watching habits, the government also approved porn sites to verify users with their credit card information. In the U.K., citizens must be 18 or older to have credit but, as the Next Web points out, 40 percent of Brits don’t own a credit card.
This new rule will also apply to those who wish to buy alcohol or knives online and comes in hand with new age-verification laws passed by the British Board of Film Verification this year.
Some folks are concerned that the need to verify their identity will put them at risk to data leakage online and blackmailing or harassment in the corner stores. But the government said U.K. citizens shouldn’t worry about data security.
“We are in the process of implementing some of the strictest data protection laws in the world,” a spokesperson told the Independent. “A wide variety of online age verification solutions exist, or are in development, and they will have to abide by these high standards. We expect data security to be a high priority in the BBFC’s guidance on age verification arrangements.”
H/T the Next Web