OnlyFans misconfigures biometric age estimation, Ofcom opens investigation

In the great age verification debate sweeping the globe, much attention has been directed at pornography tube sites such as PornHub and XNXX. Meanwhile, the largest UK-based platform for adult content, OnlyFans, has largely flown under the radar until now. That appears to be ending, with the announcement that Ofcom is opening an investigation into whether the site is doing enough to keep kids away from adult content.

OnlyFans has already introduced age verification measures for UK users, in compliance with existing regulations around video-sharing platforms. The platform for independent content creators uses facial age estimation technology from Yoti for this purpose.

The UK’s communications regulator says it has reason to believe that, in its words, OnlyFans “did not implement its age verification measures in such a way as to sufficiently protect under-18s from pornographic material.” To determine this, Ofcom reviewed OnlyFans’ responses to requests for information – and it is also investigating “investigating whether OnlyFans failed to comply with its duties to provide complete and accurate information in response to these statutory requests.”

Misreported age threshold set by business, not Yoti

But the efficacy of Yoti’s government-approved biometric age estimation software is not in question. Rather, the issue is being blamed on a coding configuration. In an email, Yoti CEO Robin Tombs explains that “the issue reported today relates to OnlyFans mistakenly reporting to Ofcom that they had set a threshold of 23 years when they had actually set it at 20 years. The threshold is always set by the business, not by Yoti, because it is always the responsibility of each business to set an appropriate threshold either in compliance with regulatory requirements or to meet their internal operating policies.”

The news has caused a headache for Tombs, according to a LinkedIn post describing the number of queries he has had to field from concerned clients. “Some of the hundreds of businesses who use Yoti facial age estimation (FAE) have read press reports today which have suggested there was a problem with Yoti’s FAE software but I can assure all customers that this is not the case,” writes Tombs. “OnlyFans have made it clear they mistakenly configured the age threshold to be 20, instead of (a very prudent) 23 and, on detecting the error, OnlyFans self-reported the mistake to Ofcom.”

In other words, OnlyFans has the right tools for biometric age verification, but in this case was not using them properly.

Ofcom says it expects to provide an update on its investigation by August 2024.

Australian government to trial age assurance a year after it said no thanks

InnovationAus.com reports that the government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will conduct a trial of age assurance technology and introduce legislation making it illegal to create or distribute non-consensual deepfake pornography.

The moves are partly in response to a sharp increase in the number of women murdered by a partner, as the issue of gender-based violence, which Albanese has called a “national crisis,” fuels mass demonstrations across the country. Communications Minister Michelle Rowland says that content that surfaced “through algorithms and recommender systems, particularly to young Australians, has an impact in reinforcing harmful and outdated gender norms.”

Last year, the prime minister opted not to impose mandatory age verification for online pornography and other adult content, saying none of the available technology options were mature enough. A roadmap for age verification submitted by the eSafety Commissioner in March 23 states that “age assurance technologies should be trialed in the Australian context before being prescribed, building on lessons learned through the euCONSENT pilot.”

The government has indicated that they believe digital identity apps, biometric tools and other age verification measures have matured since the road map was issued. So now, the trial begins, with $6.5 million of the forthcoming budget being allocated for the project.

Supreme Court rejects effort to block Texas age verification law

Reuters reports that the U.S. Supreme Court has quashed a petition by the adult industry and digital privacy groups to have Texas’ age verification laws blocked on the grounds of unconstitutionality. In Texas, all users of content sites that provide sexually explicit material must verify their age by submitting personal information. The American Civil Liberties Union is among those who argue the law impinges on the rights of law-abiding adults – and that it will not be of much use anyway, since it will not apply to social media or search engines.

Article Topics

age estimation  |  age verification  |  Australia  |  best practices  |  biometrics  |  face biometrics  |  facial analysis  |  Ofcom  |  social media  |  Texas  |  UK  |  Yoti