Facial analysis for accessing pornographic sites: CNIL is pragmatic and requires guarantees for the protection of personal data.

The National Commission for Informatics and Liberties (CNIL) has approved the use of facial analysis to prove that users of pornographic websites are of legal age. This technique involves using artificial intelligence to estimate the user’s age based on their webcam, and is one of the measures being considered by the government to limit access to pornographic sites.

The CNIL is pragmatic on this issue and believes that this method can be used now, although it recognizes that it is not a perfect system. There may be false positives or false negatives, which could create dangers and discrimination. The CNIL is concerned about privacy and asks for all guarantees to be taken regarding the personal data used, including the user’s photo. It also specifies that a facial analysis system is not a recognition device, so it cannot be used to identify the user.

Other methods of age verification have also been discussed, such as checking the user’s age by verifying their credit card, which would confirm the age of the cardholder. However, this solution is restrictive, and some sites are trying to avoid it.

Ultimately, the CNIL considers these solutions to be short-term measures that can be used now to limit access to pornographic sites for minors. However, it calls for caution and vigilance regarding potential system failures and their consequences.