Why has Spain introduced ‘porn passport’? How does it work?

Spain has introduced a ‘porn passport.’

The app, officially known as the Digital Wallet Beta (Cartera Digital Beta), will protect children from accessing pornography.

But what do we know about it? And how will it work?

Let’s take a closer look:

According to The Local, those who want to watch porn online will have to get a monthly pass for adult websites.

They will have to do so by using their official digital ID.

Users will have to download the Beta Digital Wallet app on their mobile phones.

The app will verify the user’s identity and that he or she is above the age of 18.

The user will have to identify themselves using an electronic DNI or digital certificate.

As per iNews, an ID card, a health or residence card, a driving licence, or a passport can be used to verify a person’s identity.

The app works like a mobile phone wallet.

Access to an adult platform will be through a QR code that needs to be scanned.

According to Politico, users after verification will receive 30 credits that can be used to access adult content for one month.

Those needing more content can request extra credits.

As per The Local, it is necessary to renew the monthly pass in order to stop the web pages keeping users’ data.

Only adult platforms in Spain will have this verification.

However, Spain’s digital transformation ministry has sought cooperation of social networks and instant messaging apps.

Spain’s National Cybersecurity Institute (INCIBE) will also handle access to web pages outside Spanish jurisdiction.

This is to make sure browsers can verify the age of those who want to access it.

The Spanish press has dubbed the pass pajaporte – a play on words paja (w%^k) and pasaporte (passport).

According to Politico, this system is voluntary.

Why is this happening?

The idea behind this is to stop children from accessing porn.

The Local quoted data from the Dale Una Vuelta association as showing that children on average first look at porn between age eight and nine.

Over half of children between 11 and 13 watch pornography.

The Dale Una Vuelta association, whose purpose is to help curb porn addiction, has been demanding regulation for years.

The group has said minors who watch porn are increasingly carrying out sexual attacks.

Over the past five years, there has been a 116 per cent increase in sexual assaults carried out by children.

This also comes ahead of an EU law that goes into effect in October 2027 that mandates websites stop minors from accessing porn.

As per Politico, the porn passport will likely be replaced by EU’s digital identity system (eIDAS2).

“The data is devastating. Almost half of young people under 15 years of age consume it,” Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez told El País newspaper.

“And this is not puritanism. This affects the development of our adolescents and also the future behaviour that they may have on an issue like equality.”

“We are acting in advance and we are asking platforms to do so too, as what is at stake requires it,” José Luis Escrivá, Spain’s digital secretary, told Spanish newspaper El País.

“The data we see regarding minors’ access to adult content and its possible consequences are what have led us to develop this tool as quickly as possible,” Escrivá told The Local.

iNews quoted Spanish government spokesperson Pilar Alegria as calling the app “pioneering in Europe”.

“Just by checking the age of access to adult content, we can have a profound impact on a person’s development, health and life,” Mar España, director of the national data protection agency AEPD told iNews.

However, experts say the app has basic flaws that render the entire system useless.

The app also raises issues of privacy and ethics.

With inputs from agencies