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Brits who watch porn online will be forced to prove their age before accessing sites like PornHub and YouPorn from next month.

The new measures are a result of the Digital Economy Act 2017, and are designed to prevent children from seeing content that isn't appropriate for them.

Under the terms of the Act, all online commercial pornography services accessible from the UK are required to carry age-verification controls.

Mindgeek - the company that owns Pornhub, YouPorn, RedTube and Brazzers - has developed a system called AgeID, for this purpose.

From April, anyone attempting to access any of these sites from a UK device will be redirected to a non-pornographic "landing page".

(Image: Getty)

The landing page will prompt the user to enter an email address and password, and verify their age using a credit card, passport or driving licence.

Once they have have set up their AgeID "account", they will be able to log into any porn sites that use the Age ID system with their username and password.

"It is a one-time verification, with a simple single sign-on for future access," AgeID spokesman James Clark told Metro.co.uk

"If a user verifies on one AgeID protected site, they will not need to perform this verification again on any other site carrying AgeID."

(Image: Getty)

Privacy campaigners are naturally concerned about what might happen in the event of a security breach. Last year, VR porn site SinVR was hacked, exposing the details of 20,000 users.

However, AgeID claims that all email addresses and passwords are "hashed", so even if the company's servers are hacked, users' personal details will not be compromised.

For anyone who doesn't feel comfortable handing over their email address to a porn company, there will be another way to prove your age.

AgeID said thousands of shops across the UK will offer special ID cards, which can be used together with an app on their mobile phone to verify their identity.

"The PortesCard is available to purchase from selected high street retailers and any of the UK’s 29,000 PayPoint outlets as a voucher," AgeID said in a statement.

"Once a card or voucher is purchased, its unique validation code must be activated via the Portes app within 24 hours before expiring.

"Once the user has been verified, they will automatically be granted access to all sites using AgeID."

Each PortesCard will cost £4.99 for use on a single device, or £8.99 for use across multiple devices.

(Image: iStockphoto)

The new AgeID system is expected to go live on April 1, though an exact date has not yet been set.

Any porn site that fails to comply with the news rules faces a fine of up to £250,000, or a blanket block by UK internet service providers.

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) will also be able to block porn websites if they fail to show they are denying access to under-18s.