O2 (UK) requesting card details to prove age to enter ECF forum?

[zerotoo]

Yesterday when trying to enter ECF using my Android Galaxy Tab S 10.5 on 4G I got a blue coloured O2 screen with a box requesting, continue to provide my credit card details. In order to prove I am over 18. It then stated that £1 will be deducted and then after checking it would refund the £1 to my 4G account (PAYG).

I wouldn't use/ provide details of my card for any online proof of age for sure.

Is this a scam or can anyone confirm especially anyone on O2 in the uk or has this been reported before.

It doesn't happen on my pc/laptop which I am using now.I have just checked again and it happens whenever trying to enter ECF on my O2 android tablet.

TIA

 

[retired1]

Moved to Site Feedback and Help

This is due to the new laws in the UK regarding adult sites and mandatory filter requirements. Check with your provider for opt-out details.

 

[zerotoo]

Sorry retired 1 you had to move it, thought incorrectly I was posting the right place. So thank you and for the reply.
I will answer my own question after using ma friend Google this evening. It is clearly not a scam. Using my vpn/encryption I can log in no problems. Using Android doesn't do this site justice anyway.
Strange it doesn't happen using windows 7 off a pc.It also doesn't happen on other forums.

 

[WattWick]

What? You UK guys actually passed the law? Where, in practice, you have to register yourself in some kind of 'deviant database for porn abusers' to get access to parts of the internet? Parts that also include vaping?

REALLY?! You have my empathies.

By the way: Check out Tapatalk for Android.

 

[retired1]

Sorry retired 1 you had to move it, thought incorrectly I was posting the right place. So thank you and for the reply.
I will answer my own question after using ma friend Google this evening. It is clearly not a scam. Using my vpn/encryption I can log in no problems. Using Android doesn't do this site justice anyway.
Strange it doesn't happen using windows 7 off a pc.It also doesn't happen on other forums.

It all depends on how the provider you're using has decided to implement the rules. Your cellular provider should have instructions on how to opt out of the filters.

 

[zerotoo]

Moved to Site Feedback and Help

This is due to the new laws in the UK regarding adult sites and mandatory filter requirements. Check with your provider for opt-out details.

Yes thanks, A search on the providers website brought this:

Proving your age
To prove your age, you'll need to either:
Visit one of our shops with official photo ID, like your passport or driving licence
Give us your credit card details. We'll charge £1 to the card, which we'll refund either through your bill or with calling credit. This will show up on your statement – so if someone borrows your card without permission, you'll know about it

......Once you've given us proof of your age, we'll remove the restrictions and won't ask again.

Again
Thanks

 

[djsvapour]

Curious.

I would contact your service provider ASAP and talk to them.

Never heard of this until now. I suspect if you had a non-PAYG account, things would be sorted 'in the background' without you even knowing.

I guess it's not necessarily a bad thing.

Let us know...

 

[retired1]

Internet censorship in the United Kingdom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[zerotoo]

Curious.

I would contact your service provider ASAP and talk to them.

Never heard of this until now. I suspect if you had a non-PAYG account, things would be sorted 'in the background' without you even knowing.

I guess it's not necessarily a bad thing.

Let us know...

------


What I find annoying is that it only happens for this forum website. I'm used to clicking boxes to enter ecig online stores to say I am over 18 so it was a surprise to get a box come up requesting my credit card details. When I'm next in an O2 shop I will have a word about it. Whatever, I have no intention of using my card for the purpose and wont even bother as I can just click on my vpn.

That wiki article link which Retired1 pasted says the UK now has some of the strictest law!!.

Is it a bad thing. Maybe not if it helps protect kids. But where does this stop.

Wattwick above suggested Tapatalk which I've heard of before and shall also look into installing that.

 

[djsvapour]

This not a UK legal issue, it is a UK service provider issue, mostly voluntary.

People who choose, or are stuck with, certain providers are at the mercy of those provider's policies. I do know people who use ISPs that block and also use paid-for AV add-on software.

The internet is not overly controlled or blocked etc in the UK.

In this case, this is a mobile 4G provider requiring age verification. That is not the same as draconian censorship.