Melbourne: Australians who use Apple devices can once again access the world’s most popular adult content site, Pornhub.
That is because Aylo, the parent company of Pornhub, is taking advantage of recent child-safety features Apple has implemented on its devices in Australia. To use certain features, including access to adult content, Apple users now have to confirm that they are 18 or older.
This method of age verification is similar to an approach I originally proposed in The Conversation in 2024. Importantly, it could mark the beginning of a broader shift in the technology industry towards a model that protects children online while creating fewer privacy risks than current systems.
Since March 2026, Australians have typically had to prove that they are over 18 to access adult content online under new requirements from the eSafety Commissioner.
Some websites, including Pornhub, decided it was safer to simply block access to Australians rather than rely on fallible age-assurance methods.
Adult websites that chose not to block Australians predominantly turned to third-party identity providers such as Yoti, Persona, AgeGO and AgeVerif. Such platforms typically require users to upload selfies or videos of their face, or hand over credit card details or government identity documents.
There are a number of drawbacks to this approach.
Adults wishing to prove they are over 18 have to hand over sensitive, identifying information to a range of identity providers. While these services are marketed as safe and privacy-aware, the mere act of handing over private information could reveal highly sensitive details about users’ online habits, particularly when accessing adult content.
A data breach involving an identity provider represents a significant risk for its users. Having many providers compounds that risk.
Privacy risks also exist for teenagers who face repeated age checks when they want to access social media, online dating or chat applications.
It has also been known for some time that none of the age-assurance providers are infallible. Teenagers and children find ways to work around them and share that information with their friends.
Security is only as good as the weakest link. Having many providers creates numerous opportunities to find different workarounds.
Apple’s new online safety features cut out the weak link: identity providers. Instead of proving their age to multiple providers, users can prove their age once to Apple.
This can happen the first time a user wants to access sensitive content on any of their devices, or when they set up their Apple Account.
Apple has various methods for users to prove that they are of age, including requiring government identity documents, credit card details or the date on which their Apple ID account was created.
Importantly for adults, proving to Apple that they are 18 or older reveals nothing about their online browsing habits.
Crucially for child safety, Apple devices default to mandatory safety settings for users who have not proved that they are 18. These include content filtering, such as blocking access to adult websites, as well as “communication safety” features that blur sensitive content in images and videos, such as nudity. These features integrate with Apple’s existing child-safety measures.
The device can also share information about a user’s age with apps so they can implement additional safety protections. One example is Google’s SafeSearch feature, which blocks access to sensitive content in Google search and cannot be turned off if the user has not verified that they are over 18.
Together, these features provide a child-safe-by-default experience in Australia without the major drawbacks associated with third-party identity providers.
I have argued before that technology companies should work together on online safety, with device makers such as Apple handling age assurance and implementing mandatory safety features for children.
Apple has now taken the lead in implementing this kind of model. Aylo is calling on Google and Microsoft to introduce the same child-safe-by-default approach as Apple. In August, Meta, the parent company of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, argued for much the same thing.
Encouragingly, both Google and Microsoft have already built some of the necessary infrastructure. The next step is to use it to provide the same kind of default, device-level protections Apple has now introduced.
Ultimately, what will be needed is industry-wide standardisation, so parents and children see uniform safety enforcement regardless of what kind of devices they use, while websites and apps can easily and reliably learn a user’s age from their device.
In the short term, other sites could follow Pornhub’s lead by relying on child-safety features and age assurance provided by the user’s device rather than third-party identity providers.
Doing so could lay the foundation for a safer online world for parents and children alike.