Analysis: Hidden loopholes and privacy risks loom over online age check laws

Young people's data has already fallen into the wrong hands in an attempt to provide age verification measures. — Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

LONDON: As the New Year dawned in Louisiana, the US state's 4.5 million residents woke to a new rule that restricts their access to the internet – a measure aimed at stopping children from viewing pornography online.

Act 440, which requires residents to submit a digital driver's licence for third-party age verification before they can access adult websites, is among a clutch of new laws in the United States, Europe and Britain seeking to protect children on the internet.