According to TechSpot, Pornhub’s parent company Aylo sent letters last week to Apple, Google, and Microsoft urging them to adopt device-level age verification APIs that would send verified age signals across apps and browsers. This comes after nearly half of US states implemented laws requiring ID uploads for adult content access, causing Pornhub to withdraw from most rather than comply. In Louisiana, where the company did implement ID checks, viewership fell by 80 percent, with similar declines in the UK after their Online Safety Act took effect. Aylo argues the current model of uploading identification separately on each site through third-party vendors has “failed to achieve its primary objective” of keeping minors off porn while pushing users toward unregulated platforms. California’s recently signed Digital Age Assurance Act already shifts some responsibility to app stores for age verification, though Apple and Microsoft haven’t endorsed Aylo’s specific proposal while Google says it’s developing tools including its Credential Manager API.
The Traffic Crash
Here’s the thing about those state age verification laws – they’re absolutely crushing legitimate adult sites while doing basically nothing to protect minors. When Louisiana required ID uploads, Pornhub lost 80% of its viewers overnight. That’s not people suddenly becoming virtuous – they’re just going elsewhere. Aylo’s VP told Wired that searches for unrestricted platforms have “surged exponentially” since these laws kicked in. So we’ve created this bizarre situation where the laws designed to protect people are actually driving them toward sketchier, less-regulated sites that might host illegal content. It’s Prohibition all over again, but for porn.
The Privacy Paradox
Now let’s talk about the privacy angle, because this gets really messy really fast. Aylo argues that device-level verification would actually be better for privacy than uploading your ID to every random adult site. And they’re not wrong – handing your driver’s license to multiple third-party verification services sounds like an identity theft nightmare waiting to happen. But here’s the flip side: do we really want Apple and Google becoming the gatekeepers of our age verification across the entire internet? That feels like putting a lot of power in very few hands. Critics worry this accelerates the broader trend toward online deanonymization, and they’ve got a point.
The Enforcement Problem
Studies from NYU and the Phoenix Center show what anyone with half a brain already knows – current laws are ridiculously easy to bypass. VPNs, fake selfies, foreign sites… the workarounds are endless. So we’re left with this enforcement nightmare where legitimate companies get hammered while the actual bad actors operate freely. It’s the classic case of regulations that only affect the players willing to follow rules. Meanwhile, the underground porn ecosystem thrives because they don’t care about compliance. The whole situation feels like we’re trying to solve the wrong problem with the wrong tools.
Where This Is Headed
California’s new law already points toward making platform operators like Apple and Google responsible for age verification. Google’s working on their Credential Manager API, and you can bet other states are watching closely. But here’s the million-dollar question: will device-level verification actually work, or will it just create new problems? And what happens when this technology inevitably expands beyond adult content? Once you build the infrastructure for age-gating everything, it’s hard to put that genie back in the bottle. We might be looking at the beginning of a fundamental shift in how we prove who we are online – for better or worse.
