Publications
Response to the Free Speech Coalition submission to Ofcom
We were pleased to see the response from the Free Speech Coalition to Ofcom's consultation on Part 5 of the Online Safety Act as it gives us the opportunity to clarify some potential misunderstandings and provide some reassurance, particularly to the many smaller...
ONLINE SAFETY BILL AND PORNOGRAPHY THE CASE FOR A REVISED PART 5
We have provided technical input to support a number of charities and campaign groups seeking to amend the Online Safety Bill to extend the scope of its provisions around pornograpphy and ensure these come into force as quickly as possible. [embeddoc...
Age verification providers welcome positive Home Office conclusions
For immediate release Age verification providers welcome positive Home Office conclusions following trials of age estimation and digital proof of age in shops and bars across the UK. London, 30 December 2022 – The Home Office today published its conclusions following...
The AVPA’s agenda for 2023
2023 marks the centenary of age verification. It was in 1923 that the first female Member of Parliament in the UK, Nancy Astor, passed a Private Members Bill, the “Intoxicating Liquor (Sale to Persons under Eighteen) Act” making 18 the legal age to buy alcohol. As...
Kids Online Safety Act – Age Verification
A number of human rights and LGBTQ+ organizations wrote to members of the US Congress last week opposing a kids’ online safety bill (KOSA) they argue would not actually help make the Internet a better place for children and teens. We wanted to respond to their...
It’s high time to update the UK’s outdated licensing laws.
We’ve spent the past year working with representatives of the police, trading standards officers, retailers, the Institute of Licensing and other experts in the field to review the practical implementation of the UK’s licensing laws, under the auspices of HM...
AVPA on BBC Radio 4 World at One
We spoke to BBC Radio 4 World at One about the latest changes to the Online Safety Bill. We explained how age verification and age estimation can be used to apply age checks in proportion to the level of risk. And we warned how disappointed parents will be if they...
Answering Fraser Nelson’s questions
Fraser Nelson, Editor of The Spectator, has quite reasonably raised a list of questions he still has about the impact on free speech of the Online Safety Bill in this article: “The Online Safety Bill is still a censor’s charter“. As many of these refer to age...
The French data protection regulator’s views on age verification
The French data protection authority (DPA) is the Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (CNIL). This translates literally as the “National Commission for Computing and Liberties” and this perhaps provides some insight into their natural instincts...
Press Release: Age Verification providers warn ICO to learn lessons from their French and German counterparts when trying to regulate the porn industry
PRESS RELEASE Age Verification providers warn ICO to learn lessons from their French and German counterparts when trying to regulate the porn industry London, 2 September – The trade body representing leading suppliers of technology to anonymously verify the age of...
How do you regulate a foreign porn site?
How do you regulate a foreign porn site? It may be the world-wide web, but governments are still generally national not international (the EU being the exception which proves that rule), so how can any one state hope to regulate the global Internet? Well, it is not...