Porn panic imperils privacy online, with Alec Muffett (re-air): Lock and Code S05E08
This week on the Lock and Code podcastβ¦
A digital form of protest could become the go-to response for the worldβs largest porn website as it faces increased regulations: Not letting people access the site.
In March, PornHub blocked access to visitors connecting to its website from Texas. It marked the second time in the past 12 months that the porn giant shut off its website to protest new requirements in online age verification.
The Texas law, which was signed in June 2023, requires several types of adult websites to verify the age of their visitors by either collecting visitorsβ information from a government ID or relying on a third party to verify age through the collection of multiple streams of data, such as education and employment status.
PornHub has long argued that these age verification methods do not keep minors safer and that they place undue onus on websites to collect and secure sensitive information.
The fact remains, however, that these types of laws are growing in popularity.
Today, Lock and Code revisits a prior episode from 2023 with guest Alec Muffett, discussing online age verification proposals, how they could weaken security and privacy on the internet, and whether these efforts are oafishly trying to solve a societal problem with a technological solution.
βThe battle cry of these people have has always beenβeither directly or mocked as beingββCould somebody think of the children?ββ Muffett said. βAnd Iβm thinking about the children because I want my daughter to grow up with an untracked, secure private internet when sheβs an adult. I want her to be able to have a private conversation. I want her to be able to browse sites without giving over any information or linking it to her identity.β
Muffett continued:
βIβm trying to protect that for her. Iβd like to see more people grasping for that.β
Alec Muffett
Tune in today to listen to the full conversation.
Show notes and credits:
Intro Music: βSpellboundβ by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Outro Music: βGood Godβ by Wowa (unminus.com)
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