Policy · 7h ago
Ofcom has opened an investigation into whether Aylo’s Pornhub age-check process for some UK iPhone users satisfies the Online Safety Act. The regulator is not testing Apple’s system; it is testing whether Aylo’s use of Apple-supplied age-assurance signals was effective enough and whether the company did the necessary testing and due diligence before widening access.
The process works by taking Apple’s signals as evidence that an iOS user may have already completed age checks, then using that signal to decide who can enter. In plain terms, the question is whether the platform can show that its implementation really keeps out children, not just that it relied on a trusted vendor control.
For platforms that depend on third-party age or identity signals, the case turns compliance into evidence: if the service changes, the operator may need to prove the control still works in practice. The exposure sits with the implementation owner, and a sound upstream vendor system will not by itself settle the regulator’s view.
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The Record from Recorded Future
UK regulator to investigate Pornhub parent company for alleged age verification failings
In May, Pornhub began using a new age assurance process to verify some users’ ages, according to an Ofcom press release.
British regulator takes a hard look at Pornhub's Apple-powered age checks
Regulator wants to know whether parent Aylo did its homework before reopening the door to UK iPhone users
Ofcom takes a hard look at Pornhub's Apple-powered age checks
Regulator wants to know whether parent Aylo did its homework before reopening the door to UK iPhone users
Part of the PlainSec briefing for 2026-09-23