Here’s what you have to do to access Pornhub from today

The days of simply ticking an 'over 18' box are over.

The rule is aimed at preventing children from being exposed to pornographic content.

The sites will make use of either open banking, Photo-ID matching, facial age estimation, mobile-network operator age checks, email-based age estimation or digital ID services to mandate site access.

Failure to do so could result in serious fines up to £18 million or 10 percent of their global revenue.

The impact on users

There are an estimated 14 million porn watchers in the UK, many of whom have expressed concerns about handing personal information over to porn sites.

Per the BBC, age verification companies — who are likely to be employed — have said that users shouldn't worry about potential leaks of personal information, as the firms don't retain data, and they don't know what a person has accessed.

How have Ofcom enforced the changes?

Ofcom have sent out letters to 'hundreds' of services, making it clear that the 'mandatory age-checks' must be implemented.

Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom's chief executive said: "For too long, many online services which allow porn and other harmful material have ignored the fact that children are accessing their services.

"Either they don't ask or, when they do, the checks are minimal and easy to avoid. 

"That means companies have effectively been treating all users as if they're adults, leaving children potentially exposed to porn and other types of harmful content. Today, this starts to change."

The new details were included in the latest round of industry guidance, ahead of the enforcement of the Online Safety Act.

Under the Online Safety Act, all social media and search services have been required to carry out a children's access assessment to determine if their site is likely to be accessed by children.

Ofcom said it has published codes of practice for sites that are likely to be accessed by children, which set out how they can implement measures to keep younger users safe. 

Sites have also completed a children's risk assessment, the findings of which have been implemented.

Regardless of the type of site, if it allows pornography, these checks have been required.

Dame Melanie said: "Adults will start to notice a difference in how they access certain online services.

"Services which host their own pornography must start to introduce age checks immediately, while other user-to-user services – including social media – which allow pornography and certain other types of content harmful to children will have to follow suit by July at the latest."

She warned that Ofcom would be monitoring the response from industry closely and companies failing to meet the new requirements will face enforcement action.