The Australian government has said the Digital Transformation Agency is well placed to explore extending the digital identity program to online age verification to access things such as pornography.
The federal government has responded to a report on age verification for online wagering and online pornography, saying it is considering, at least in principle, if the nation’s digital identity system could be extended to help with protecting children from online harms. The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs closed its inquiry into age verification for online wagering and online pornography last year, tabling a report in February 2020. Making a total of six recommendations, the committee asked the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) to extend its digital identity program to include an age-verification exchange for the purpose of third-party online age verification. This was despite the eSafety Commissioner saying on many occasions there are no „out-of-the-box technology solutions“ that would solve this issue and it is her opinion that age verification should not be seen as a panacea. In response [PDF] to the recommendation, the government said it supports it in principle. „Initially, the government’s priority will be to complete work underway that explores the potential for changes to the policy and accreditation framework… depending upon the findings of this work, further technical interventions may be required,“ it wrote. „If so, the government agrees that the Digital Transformation Agency is well placed to explore extending the digital identity program.“ The DTA, in November 2019, declared its digital identity play would be a valuable tool in verifying an individual’s age before allowing access to online pornographic material. Must read: Researchers want Australia’s digital ID system thrown out and redesigned from scratch The committee also recommended the DTA, in consultation with the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), develop standards for online age verification for age-restricted products and services.
