Wire · regulatory
Lords Open Online Safety Act Inquiry as Breach-Prone Age Checks Strip Adult Privacy
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Fusion42 · 28 July 2026 · Fusion42 review
The UK House of Lords has opened a formal inquiry into the Online Safety Act's age verification regime, citing systemic risks: third-party vendors conducting mandatory identity checks have documented breach histories, exposing millions of adults' identity documents whilst failing to block harmful content like suicide forums. The inquiry questions whether the compliance mechanism itself—not just enforcement pace—requires legislative reform.
◆ ◆ The Wire takeaway
You're now required by law to collect adults' identity documents to block children from lawful content—but the vendors holding those documents get hacked regularly, and the forums you're trying to block stay online anyway. Parliament is asking whether this mechanism works at all, and that question will reshape what 'age verification' can legally demand of users.
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