BUDAPEST – In a post published today, men’s lifestyle site Sugarcookie.com offers its UK fans tips on how to circumvent the age-verification system established under the UK’s Digital Economy Act, which Sugarcookie calls a “restrictive and personally invasive law” set to go into effect in July.
“In order to continue browsing porn, users will be asked to submit personal information such as a phone number, passport, driving license or a ‘citizen card’,” noted Sugarcookie.com founder Harriet Sugarcookie in the post. “Do you want to hand that information over to a porn site? No. Neither do we.”
In an infographic, Sugarcookie notes some of the advantages and disadvantages of various means of bypassing age-verification and unblocking porn sites. The inforgraphic offers five tips, including using a VPN (“virtual private network”), changing your DNS, using the TOR project, using a proxy, and SSH tunneling.
The infographic also observes that “porn on social media is exempt” – although it should also be noted many social media platforms disallow porn, and there has been some indication that the UK’s age-verification requirements may be extended to apply to social media sites in the future, as well.
Sugarcookie’s post offers more detail on how to apply each of the tips referenced in the infographic – and expands upon some of the security and privacy concerns raised by critics of the UK’s planned age verification system.
“Remember the Ashley Madison hack?” Sugarcookie asks. “Just imagine the consequences of something similar happening in porn. How many ways could that information be used against you?”
In a statement publicizing her post, Sugarcookie questioned the Digital Economy Act’s stated goal – and its necessity.
“The government say the law is about protecting children, but it screams of government overreach and nannying,” Sugarcookie said. “It’s the kind of draconian approach you expect to find in China, not in the free world. There are already people in charge of protecting children online, they’re called parents.”
Sugarcookie’s infographic is embedded below. You can read her full post here.
