Pornhub’s Desperate Plea to Tech Giants: Verify Our Users For Us

According to Gizmodo, Pornhub’s parent company Aylo sent letters to Apple, Google, and Microsoft pleading for device-level age verification that would link users’ ages directly to their devices. The company is facing massive traffic declines, including a 77% drop in the UK and 80% in Louisiana, due to new age verification laws requiring platforms to confirm users’ ages. Aylo’s chief legal officer Anthony Penhale called current site-based approaches “fundamentally flawed and counterproductive” despite supporting the goal of protecting minors. California’s Digital Age Assurance Act, which won’t take effect until January 1, 2027, might grant Pornhub’s wish by requiring app stores to verify ages before adult content downloads. Privacy experts warn this moves us closer to digital IDs that could end online anonymity.

The Privacy Nightmare

Here’s the thing: we’re stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to age verification. The current third-party systems that sites like Pornhub are using aren’t exactly privacy-friendly either. We’re talking about everything from facial recognition scans to requiring government IDs – and we’ve already seen one verification platform get hacked, exposing users’ personal information. So basically, we’re choosing between handing our data to tech giants or trusting it with sketchy verification companies. Not exactly an ideal situation.

Shifting the Burden

Pornhub’s proposal is pretty clever from their perspective. By pushing age verification to device manufacturers, they get plausible deniability if underage users slip through. It’s like asking the bouncer to check IDs at the door rather than having every individual club do it themselves. But this creates a whole new set of problems. As the Electronic Frontier Foundation warns, this could effectively end online anonymity. Imagine having your age permanently tied to every device you own – that’s a surveillance dream come true for tech companies.

The Broader Implications

This isn’t just about porn sites anymore. Once device-level age verification becomes standard for adult content, what’s stopping governments from requiring it for everything? Social media, news sites, political content – the slippery slope is real. The ACLU has raised serious concerns about digital IDs creating a “privacy nightmare” that could be exploited for tracking and discrimination. And let’s be honest – once this infrastructure exists, you can bet it won’t just be used for age verification.

Where This Is Headed

Looking at the trajectory, we’re heading toward a future where some form of digital identity becomes unavoidable. California’s 2027 deadline gives tech companies plenty of time to build the infrastructure, and you can bet other states will follow. The real question is: who gets to control this system? Device manufacturers? Governments? Some new third-party entity? And what happens when this verification technology inevitably fails or gets hacked? We’re building a system that could make privacy a luxury rather than a right, all in the name of protecting kids from content they’re probably already finding ways to access anyway.