Canadian lawmakers consider age verification, estimation for online porn access

Legislation to restrict youth access to pornography with age checks has returned to the floor of Canada’s parliament.

Bill S-209 reached its first reading in the Senate on May 28. The Bill specifies that organizations implementing age verification or age estimation can use the technology as a defense in the case of a minor sneaking through to access restricted content.

The Bill would give the government the power to prescribe age verification and estimation methods, but only those operated by “arm’s length” third parties. It also specifies that only personal information strictly necessary to perform the age assurance check can be collected. Once the age verification or estimation is complete, the personal data must be destroyed, and whatever age assurance method is used, it must comply with the best practices of the field and privacy protection.

Canada’s privacy regulator is planning revised guidance on age assurance after carrying out a public consultation, which included calls for “special provisions” for processing biometric data, as in facial age estimation.

The Senate passed similar legislation in 2023, but it stalled in the lower chamber, the House of Commons, where it languished under heavy criticism until the parliamentary session ended, sending the process back to square one.

Canada has so far taken a more cautious approach to age assurance for online content, whether it is restricted by law like pornography or in new laws, as is the case in many countries for social media.

Article Topics

age verification  |  biometric age estimation  |  Canada  |  data protection  |  legislation