FB pixel

Canadian digital standards org wants porn bill to go harder on biometric age verification

Categories Age Assurance  |  Biometrics News
Canadian digital standards org wants porn bill to go harder on biometric age verification
 

The Digital Governance Standards Institute (DGSI) of Canada is proposing the adoption of a standard that specifies minimum requirements for age verification methods using biometrics.

Citing a list of risks to young people arising from inadequate, ineffective online age verification tools, the DGSI’s proposal pushes the federal government to add extra standards and technical safeguards to the age verification measures in its pending Bill S-210, also known as the Protecting Young Persons from Exposure to Pornography Act.

The DGSI argues that Bill S-210 “does not extend to the dominant digital platforms children access that expose them to adult content, including gambling, violence, guns, hate speech, sexual content, and more. These trends compel the need for a broader application of age verification technologies.” The proposal points to regulations in place in the UK, France, and certain U.S. states, designed to limit underage access to pornography. (Other states have been less successful.)

“Canada is lagging behind other jurisdictions when it comes to protecting young persons’ online,” it says. “Our solutions in Canada must be designed for no less than the contemporary world our children face daily.”

According to the proposal, that includes the risk of sexual predators stalking virtual worlds to lure children, abundant opportunities for digital gambling, and social media challenge videos that drive kids to do stupid and dangerous stunts to win likes and status points. It cites a Statistics Canada report from 2022 showing that “9,441 children in 2020 were victimized from reported cybercrimes, up 200 percent from 2014.”

Concerningly, luring accounted for 77 percent of offenses.

The data privacy risks that could go along with children submitting selfie biometrics for age verification is also alluded to in the proposal.

The DGSI’s proposed standard aims to bring Canada in line with international best practices, in part by encouraging innovations in biometrics-based age-verification by Canadian researchers.

Canadian pornography site Pornhub, the largest on the internet, currently reports upwards of 150 million daily active visitors globally.

Article Topics

 |   |   |   |   | 

Latest Biometrics News

 

iBeta’s biometric presentation attack detection testing levels up

The growing sophistication of spoof attacks on biometric systems for identity verification and authentication is a well-established concern, recognized by…

 

Streamlining airport passenger processing in Fiji and Sri Lanka

Aviation continues its digital transformation with new deals in Fiji and Sri Lanka, while airlines and technology companies continue innovating….

 

Women in Identity research sheds light on cost of ID exclusion

Identity exclusion is costing businesses money. The same problem is causing misery among real people, and in some cases preventing…

 

Sumsub reveals 300% increase in identity document fraud

Sumsub has released its Q1 2025 identity fraud trends based on its internal data and it shows a surge in…

 

Identity issuer registries can strengthen VCs for LERs: reports

A year into a research collaboration, the Digital Credentials Consortium (DCC) and Credential Engine have published a pair of reports…

 

Louisiana sees age assurance legislation battle between Big Social, Big App Store

In Louisiana, age verification legislation finds itself stirred up like a spicy gumbo. Bills regarding age assurance for adult content…

Comments

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Biometric Market Analysis

Most Viewed This Week

Featured Company

Biometrics Insight, Opinion

Digital ID In-Depth

Biometrics White Papers

Biometrics Events