France has become the latest in a long line of countries that is doubling down on requiring pornographic sites to offer mandatory age verification. The aim is to protect minors, but will it work and at what cost to user privacy?

In January 2025, a new regulation was passed requiring pornographic sites in France to verify the age of their users. This initiative aims to protect minors from exposure to inappropriate content online, which can cause long-term harm and affect their perception of gender and sexual relations as well as put younger people and women at greater risk of abuse.

Platforms must now implement robust identity verification solutions to verify users’ ages either through the identification of documents or facial recognition.

However, questions have been raised on the effectiveness of the proposed methods and the potential impact on user privacy.

How France aims to crack down on underage users viewing pornography.

Every month, 2.3 million minors in France access pornographic sites, representing a staggering 12% of the total visitors. To address the issue, the Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication now requires adult sites to implement age verification services by April 11, 2025. After this period, sanctions, including site blocking, may be applied in the event of non-compliance.

Accepted methods of identity verification include the use of video selfies for biometric recognition, or proof of identity via document verification. As a simple confirmation of age is no longer sufficient, compliance is reinforced by a double anonymity system, allowing age to be verified while guaranteeing anonymity.

With double anonymity, the site you’re connecting to doesn’t know who you are, only that you’re over 18. Plus, the age verification service doesn’t know which site you’re connecting to.
Marc Norlain, Managing Director at IDnow

Global regulation practices for adult sites.

France is not alone in its efforts to regulate access to adult content. Here are how some other countries are tackling the issue of minors viewing pornography.

United Kingdom: The Online Safety Act will require pornographic platforms to use age verification services by July. All websites on which pornographic material can be found, including social media platforms, must introduce ‘robust’ age-checking techniques, such as demanding photo ID or running credit card checks for UK users. Ofcom has published what it calls a “non-exhaustive” list of technologies that may be used to verify ages, which includes:

Open banking

Photo ID matching

Facial age estimation

Mobile network operator age checks

Credit card checks

Digital identity services

Email-based age estimation

Germany: The country imposes strict regulations via the Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Media (KJM). Sites must ensure that users are of legal age by using verification solutions such as digital identity services or national identity cards.

Italy: The government has recently tightened online controls. Pornographic platforms must verify age via state-issued digital identifiers, such as the SPID (Public Digital Identity System).

Denmark: More lenient than some other European countries, Denmark simply encourages the use of age verification services to protect minors, notably via public-private partnerships.

United States: Since June 2024, 19 states have passed laws requiring age verification for access to adult content.

Nations such as China, Iran and Saudi Arabia completely block access to pornographic sites, using censorship technologies to prevent access.

In Spain, Poland and the Czech Republic, there are no specific regulations imposing age verification services for pornographic sites, although discussions are underway.

The Digital Services Act, which is in force in all European Union (EU) Member States, requires digital platforms, including adult content sites, to implement age verification mechanisms when their services are massively used (over 45 million users). This regulation aims to ensure a safer online environment for minors throughout the EU.

Age verification solutions for accessing sensitive content.

Faced with new and more prolific age verification requirements, a promising solution is emerging to combine efficiency, anonymity and privacy: the EUDI Wallet (European Digital Identity Wallet).

Digital identity wallets offer two main benefits:

Selective disclosure of information.

This system allows users to prove their age without disclosing other personal data. For example, users can confirm that they are over 18 without revealing other personal information, such as their name or address. Only information strictly necessary for verification is shared.

Non-traceability of users.

A key feature of the digital identity portfolio will be its ability to guarantee the non-traceability of users’ interactions with sites. Thanks to advanced technologies such as zero-knowledge proof, it will be impossible to link a user’s actions to a specific site or to their other online activities.

Digital wallets look set to usher in a major advancement in privacy protection, addressing some of the current concerns associated with using identity verification solutions to gain access to adult sites.

Porn, privacy and data confidentiality.

When it comes to viewing pornographic content, the topic of privacy is clearly an important and sensitive topic. To reassure adult users that they will be able to remain anonymous and their data kept confidential, all while complying with new and upcoming regulations, it will become essential to implement solutions that comply with strict privacy protection principles.

Implementing these new solutions is a challenge but represents a major opportunity to combine innovation with security and respect for individual freedoms.