Louisiana requires digital government ID to access Pornhub and other adult sites
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For the vast majority of us, our sex life is one of the most private aspects of our lives, and with it comes an innate desire to keep to ourselves the adult material we consume online.
However, for residents of the state of Louisiana, all that has changed – at least on the surface.
The new legislation, known as HB 142, requires all websites with a share of more than 33.3% adult content to officially verify the age of their visitors. Unsurprisingly, the ubiquitous Pornhub is the first site to enforce the law, and those in Louisiana now have to provide some form of government ID to access spicy content.
The purpose of the bill is to restrict minors’ access to explicit material, and failure to enforce the age verification procedure could result in the website in question being sued. However, so far only Pornhub has enforced this law, while rivals XVideos and XHamster still rely on the simple trust-based checkbox verification method.
ID please
The age verification process that Pornhub has implemented is handled by a third party called AllPassTrust (opens in new tab)along with the state’s digital ID app L.A. Wallet (opens in new tab). LA Wallet has proven to be a success in the state, and while widely regarded as a smart solution, the digitization of personal data has raised significant privacy concerns.
What’s more, when the myriad of other adult sites on the internet start doing similar verification processes, there’s no guarantee they’ll enlist AllPassTrust for the job. So if you’re a bit of an erotic explorer and prefer to visit a wide variety of pornography outlets, you may need to trust some third parties with some of your most sensitive government data – as well as your viewing habits.
Another concern is that this legislation will likely favor larger sites like Pornhub and XVideos, while smaller independent outlets will struggle to afford reputable third-party verification services. While opinions on the morality of the porn industry vary wildly to say the least, steps need to be taken to avoid monopolies in any market.
Circumvent the law
Despite Pornhub and the US government assuring us that the process is safe, secure and completely private – no details are shared and the only information used to allow access is whether the user is over 18 – it is It is clear that a large number of consumers want to avoid any form of government verification when it comes to adult content.
The easiest way to bypass the verification procedure is to use a VPN – ours top ranked provider is ExpressVPN (opens in new tab). By changing your IP address, you can spoof your location, meaning you appear to be somewhere else in the US – or the world, for that matter – and avoid having to entrust sensitive data to potentially unknown third parties.
The future for adult content in the US
While Louisiana is the first US state to enforce this form of age verification, aided in large part by the groundbreaking LA Wallet initiative, it’s unlikely to be the last. AB-2273the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, was enacted in August 2022 and if passed could necessitate similar age-verification procedures across the state.
In 2020, Utah also introduced a law mandating pornographic websites display a detailed warning (opens in new tab) upon entry on the perceived harm of adult content to minors. While it was widely pushed back by the porn industry and seen as largely performative, it is clear that many states in the US are starting to take a tougher stance against adult content.
Whether these moves stem from genuine concern for the welfare of minors or are simply symptoms of a perceived rise of Puritan conservatism in the United States remains to be seen. The bottom line, though, is that it’s getting harder and harder to stay anonymous on the internet — and it’s more important than ever to take steps to preserve the privacy we still have.