Irish State announce plan to build a porn preference register for most of the EU
Ireland’s online safety regulator has proposed requiring users of pornographic and other video‑sharing sites to upload state ID and live selfies for biometric age verification, creating what critics say is an effective register of adults’ viewing habits. Commenters warn this would centralize extremely sensitive personal data with private companies, expand government and corporate surveillance, and normalize intrusive ID checks across the wider internet, while doing little to stop determined minors. Alternatives raised include device‑level “kid modes,” content labeling, and zero‑knowledge age proofs that don’t tie identity to specific sites or content.
Scope of the proposal
- Irish online-safety regulator is considering requiring age verification via state ID plus live selfie (biometric check) for “video-sharing platforms,” not just porn sites.
- This could cover major platforms (YouTube, Facebook, X/Twitter, TikTok, Mastodon instances) as well as porn sites; minors would also need to participate to upload or possibly even view video.
- Some commenters say the headline “porn preference register” is technically inaccurate; others argue that in practice the combination of KYC and behavioral tracking effectively creates one.
Privacy, surveillance, and data security
- Strong concern about porn and social sites holding highly sensitive PII (IDs, biometrics, selfies of minors) for years; many expect inevitable data breaches and blackmail/extortion risks.
- Several note Ireland’s poor track record on data protection and police overreach, making government access or misuse a realistic fear.
- Many see this as part of a broader push to end online anonymity and build de facto registries of citizens’ activities, comparable to historical political blacklists.
- Others point out existing KYC regimes already force thousands of small companies to store ID images, calling this “a hacker’s dream.”
Effectiveness and unintended consequences
- Many argue motivated teens will bypass controls via VPNs, torrents, or using adults’ IDs; so harms to privacy will be large while child-protection benefits are modest.
- Some worry that mass VPN use to evade porn checks will in turn be used to justify VPN restrictions, pushing the EU closer to a China-style model.
- Fears that non-straight or politically sensitive viewing habits could be weaponized in hostile political climates.
Children’s protection vs parental responsibility
- General agreement that limiting young children’s exposure to modern porn is desirable, but deep disagreement on means.
- Some say this is ultimately a parenting/education and device-control problem; others argue many parents lack skills or capacity, so state-level measures are tempting but dangerous.
Politics, morality, and censorship
- Dispute over whether this is driven by far-right/religious moralism or by centrist “think of the children” bureaucrats; several see porn as a wedge for broader speech control.
- Some mention evidence of harms (coercive productions, extreme content, addiction); others claim porn can reduce sex crimes or is overblamed relative to gambling or TikTok-style apps.
Alternative approaches discussed
- Ideas include: kid-mode devices with whitelists; content labeling standards; age-verification tokens or digital IDs with zero-knowledge proofs; and domain-based schemes (e.g., dedicating adult TLDs) instead of per-site KYC.