Half of the US Now Requires You to Upload Your ID or Scan Your Face to Watch Porn

As of 30 November 2025, half of the US states have approved and implemented legislation specifically dedicated to verifying the age of users accessing websites providing pornographic content. Following recent approval by Missouri, it is now necessary to provide biometric and personal identification data in order to access what is generally referred to as “legal porn”.

Several sites dedicated to sharing such material have suspended their services within the states involved following the implementation of this law. PornHub, for example, has replaced its homepage with a video of a performer, Cherie Deville, about the worrying effects and privacy risks associated with age verification.

‘Providing your identity card every time you want to visit an adult platform is not the most effective solution for protecting users,’ says Cherie, ‘in fact, it jeopardises the privacy of the users themselves.’