Online safety acts start out trying to prevent harm to kids but end up requiring digital ID to access all sorts on information

You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.

If legislation currently working its way through Parliament has the same effect as similar legislation in the United Kingdom and Australia, it will soon be illegal for internet companies to show you what you ask for online unless you hand them your face — i.e., agree to a facial scan to acquire access.

Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

The U.K. and Australia both have online safety acts. Each used vague language requiring “highly effective” and “appropriate” age verification and then delegated the specifics to regulators. Despite talk of privacy-preserving alternatives, both produced the same result. The U.K. requires facial biometric scans and government ID matching to access pornography and any content related to suicide, self-harm and eating disorders, while Australia added violent content, social media (defined as whatever the state determines is social media), and most disturbingly, access to search engines.

Canadians are next. Bill S-209 uses the same vague language. It creates an offence for allowing minors to access pornography, then........

© Financial Post