In the near future it may be more difficult for minors to access adult online content. Many occasions, while accessing an adult-only page, the website displays a form where the next question appears: “Are you 18 or older?”; however, you don’t need to be an expert in cybersecurity to deduce that this is a measure that’s more than useless.
To establish stricter controls on access to pornographic material on the Internet, the Australian Parliament, through the House of Representatives’ Standing Committee on Social Policy, has announced an investigation that is also extensible to online betting sites.
According to cybersecurity experts, this committee proposes to use the Australian Face Verification Service, from which the image of the owner of a device (laptops, smartphones & tablets) would be contrasted with the identity documents issued by the Government.
This would prevent minors from accessing adult-only websites, a desirable measure, but whose approach raises multiple concerns about users’ privacy. At the moment this is only an idea, as the legislators have not provided details on its possible implementation.
Cybersecurity specialists say the Australian government has taken some steps against the privacy of Internet and technology devices users. A clear example of this trend is the Facial Verification Service, which was launched in 2016 and consists of a gigantic database of images of the identifications of all Australians. Only a few Australian government agencies have access to this database, although proposals have already been put forward to expand this access.
Australian government spokespersons mention that this system is not yet fully working, and the approval of the Identity Verification Services Act, which must be voted on in Parliament, is still pending.
In addition to being too invasive government policy, specialists from the International Institute of Cyber Security (IICS) claim that this law exposes citizens to hacking or even identity theft campaigns, so if it is approved, this law should ensure the protection of citizens’ information.
He is a well-known expert in mobile security and malware analysis. He studied Computer Science at NYU and started working as a cyber security analyst in 2003. He is actively working as an anti-malware expert. He also worked for security companies like Kaspersky Lab. His everyday job includes researching about new malware and cyber security incidents. Also he has deep level of knowledge in mobile security and mobile vulnerabilities.
