New age verification checks for online porn websites will come into force in the UK on July 15th.
The UK Government passed the new legislation in January - however, its introduction was delayed while officials consulted with experts on the best way to implement it.
The new laws will force anyone visit pornographic websites in the UK to prove they are over the age of 18.
Simply ticking a box or entering a date of birth will no longer be enough under the new rules.
Instead, users may have to provide bank details to gain access to explicit content.
Social media site like Twitter and Reddit are exempt from the new laws - which cover any website that is "more than one-third pornographic."
Privacy
The laws have been condemned by privacy experts who have warned that asking private companies to create age-verification tools will open the door to data leaks, blackmail and the increased sale of private information for use in advertising.
Under the new laws, websites that fail to offer age-verification tools face being blocked in the UK - or having their payment services withdrawn.
Jim Killock, executive director at Open Rights Group, which campaigns for digital freedom, said the new laws could lead to porn companies building huge databases of the UKs porn habits.
"Dangerous and irresponsible"
He said the UK Government has repeatedly refused to enforce a legal duty to protect the privacy of web users on age-verification providers.
"The government needs to compel companies to enforce privacy standards .The idea that they are ‘optional’ is dangerous and irresponsible."
"Having some age verification that is good and other systems that are bad is unfair and a scammer’s paradise – of the government’s own making.
"Data leaks could be disastrous - and they will be the government’s own fault.
"The government needs to shape up and legislate for privacy before their own policy results in people being outed, careers being destroyed or suicides being provoked."
Hackers
Campaigners have also warned that the laws leave the door wide open to hackers who could create fake verification portals to steal users' credit card information.
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has been tasked with enforcing the law.
It will introduce a new green AV symbol to let consumers know that age-verification providers are safe.
UK Digital minister Margot James said: "Adult content is currently far too easy for children to access online."
"The introduction of mandatory age verification is a world-first and we have taken the time to balance privacy concerns with the need to protect children from inappropriate content."
"We want the UK to be the safest place in the world to be online and these new laws will help us achieve this."
Porn monopoly
Niche pornography producers have warned that the cost of age-verification will put their businesses at risk and campaigners have warned that the new laws could create a verification monopoly out of pornographic giant MindGeek.
MindGeek owns a number of popular international adults websites and production studios, including PornHub.
Its AgeID tool has been in use in Germany since 2015 and the company now plans to make it commercially available to all porn sites in the UK.
Data
The company has said the tool will not store financial information or information on sexual preferences - however its privacy policy allows for the collection and analysis of user data to sell to advertising agencies.
The data it collects includes users' names, addresses, dates-of-birth, and as well their online activity on other websites.
Campaigners have noted that the new laws will likely see more users turning to virtual private networks (VPNs) and Tor clients to dodge UK regulations.
VPNs allow users to run their internet activity through a third party - tricking websites into believing users are accessing them from different locations.
