Internet masturbators are facing a new crackdown – as the government’s new Digital Economy Act forcing viewers to register their age before viewing online filth comes into force.

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That could mean that users are forced to input credit card details, mobile numbers – or even registering their age at the Post Office.

The Digital Economy Act received Royal Assent last month – and that means the age restrictions will be enforced in Britain.

Digital privacy campaigners Open Rights Group has warned that government attempts to block under-18s from porn sites could have chilling implications for privacy.


The group has warned that efforts to verify people’s age could lead to ‘lists’ of users of porn sites – and be vulnerable to ‘Ashley Madison’ style leaks.

All porn sites will soon have age verification systems to prevent people aged under 18 from accessing adult material under the Digital Economy bill – but the systems used to ‘age block’ sites could pose a privacy risk, the group warned.



Under the new law, every porn site would have to verify the age of its users to prevent children accessing porn by accident.

But digital privacy group Open Rights Campaign has warned that leaving it up to porn companies to implement the law poses large risks.

Jim Killock of Open Rights Group says, ‘If the government wants to have Age Verification in place, it must mandate a system that increases the privacy and safety of end users, since the users will be compelled to use Age Verification tools.

‘Also, any and all Age Verification solutions must not make Britain’s cybersecurity worse overall, e.g. by building databases of the nation’s porn-surfing habits which might later appear on Wikileaks.