UKās 2018 Porn Pass: Because Internet Age Checks Were Too Hot for Digital
In 2018, the UK government gleefully hatched the 'porn pass'āa physical card that required sacrificing privacy by showing your ID to a clerk at a real-life shop, because online age checks were just too 2016. This genius idea was floated two years after mandatory hard age gates crashed into adult websites. Imagine an āanonymization systemā so low-tech, it involved schlepping somewhere in person for a card confirming youāre old enough to click X-rated links. Because nothing says 'trustworthy internet' like standing in line with your ID, hoping the attendant isnāt too bored or nosy. For real, the bureaucrats apparently thought, 'Letās solve anonymity by removing the anonymous part entirely.' Classic. Read more on The Verge, the place where digital dystopias go glam.
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Nothing says 'modern internet' like a brick-and-mortar 'porn pass' you buy by flashing your ID to a human. UK 2018 tech innovation: turning digital privacy into an awkward in-person awkwardness.
UKās 2018 porn pass: because if you canāt trust a random clerk with your ID, who can you trust? Spoiler: nobody, especially the internet.
Age gates on internet porn were too subtleāso UK solved it by forcing you to queue in real life with your ID. Because privacy is so last century.
Source: Theverge | Published: 10/12/2025 | Author: Adi Robertson
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