The unintended consequences of the Online Safety Act | Letters
George Billinge says that many age assurance technologies delete their personal data after age has been confirmed, while some providers of virtual private networks (VPNs) sell their data to brokers (Everything the right – and the left – are getting wrong about the Online Safety Act, 1 August).But there is a key difference: we can choose which VPN to use, but the choice of which age assurance technology to use is with the platform.When a platform I use to talk to my friends insisted I verify my age, I wasn’t given a choice about which age verification service would get my driving licence.I was expected to trust that the platform had made a good decision with my best interests at heart.That’s a pretty big ask.
Instead, I elected to sign up for a VPN.I then paid for it with a payment processor of my choice, one with a proven security record.I spent several days considering and comparing the numerous options before selecting one that doesn’t keep any data – with audits and court successes to prove it.At every step of the process, I was able to choose who I was trusting with my personal data.I might consider going through the age verification process later – when I get the choice about which service to show my driving licence to.
Assuming, of course, that requiring age verification for a group of adults in their 40s to share pet photos and complain about work is ultimately deemed to be within the scope of the legislation,Age verification on porn sites sounds reasonable, but it seems that many platforms are using the Online Safety Act as an excuse to conduct a data grab on a massive scale,We should be wary about who is asking for our ID when the spirit of the law is being so blatantly abused,Alex TrerythSt Austell, Cornwall George Billinge’s focus on tech companies such as Facebook unfortunately echoes the flawed thinking behind the Online Safety Act itself,While the act tries to distinguish between large tech companies and smaller independent sites, most of the legislation was only written with Meta and their like in mind.
In practice, this means that any site that contains user-submitted content, be that a volunteer-run hobbyist forum or a recipe blog with a comment section, is subject to the same rules (and same fines) as Facebook or X.However, unlike these companies, these smaller sites do not have the teams of lawyers to pore over Ofcom’s 1,700-plus pages of guidance, and instead are choosing to either block UK visitors or shut down entirely.Rather than curtailing the power of big tech, as Billinge suggests, the Online Safety Act only entrenches their power further, by making it impossible for anyone else to comply.Jonathan CoatesBristol
British bobsleigh’s Brad Hall: ‘Winning medals without sacrifice doesn’t mean anything’
A loss of funding in 2019 led to the GB athlete raising money privately and a period of historic successFor most athletes, a loss of all funding would signal the end. But for Brad Hall, Team GB’s bobsleigh captain, it was the beginning of a remarkable comeback story. The 34-year-old speaks about the financial shakedown of British bobsleigh with remarkable calm, as if it was a hurdle most professionals faced.“I’ll have to take you back in time a little bit,” he says, reflecting on a period that could have ended his career. “We got a year of transitional funding until the 2019 world championships where we were told if we got top three we’re able to maintain our funding
Lukhan Salakaia-Loto earns Wallabies call-up for South Africa Tests
Powerful lock Lukhan Salakaia-Loto has earned a return to the Wallabies’ squad for the two Tests in South Africa to kick off this year’s Rugby Championship, but injuries in the halves have forced coach Joe Schmidt to call on Nic White a week after his supposed retirement from international rugby.The Wallabies showed progress in the series against the British & Irish Lions and won the third Test to prevent a whitewash, but they cannot afford to rest heading into the clashes with the top-ranked Springboks, who beat the All Blacks in the 2023 World Cup final.The 35-player squad is similar to the one selected for the Lions series and includes Rob Valetini, the John Eales Medal winner who missed the third Test due to a calf injury, as well as veteran No 10 James O’Connor. But there are also some new faces, including three uncapped players.Salakaia-Loto, who has been out of the Australian squad so far this year, wins a place after starring for the First Nations & Pasifika XV against the Lions three weeks ago
‘Love is the key, right?’ Evergreen Venus Williams plays on and on at 45
“Still haven’t seen the Rolling Stones,” says Venus Williams, smiling, as she reminisced about her unforgettable professional tennis debut at the age of 14 in Oakland, California, an occasion that justified years of hype surrounding her stratospheric potential. Her first ever professional tennis match took place next door to a Rolling Stones concert. Now, 31 years later, at 45 years old, Williams is still here.Three weeks after returning to professional tennis for the first time in 16 months with a straight sets singles victory over the then world No 35 Peyton Stearns at the Citi Open in Washington, which marked her as the second-oldest woman in history to win a WTA Tour-level singles match and also silenced criticisms about her enduring presence on the tour, Williams now takes her comeback to the Cincinnati Open.Once one of the most precocious youngsters of her time, a US Open finalist by the age of 17, Williams continues to compete
England’s Chris Woakes: ‘It’s not the way you want to be front-page news’
The pace bowler says of risking his career by going out to bat against India after dislocating his shoulder: ‘You just know you’re part of something bigger’“I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I didn’t try,” says Chris Woakes, just 48 hours after he walked out to a standing ovation at the Oval, left arm in a sling, bat in hand, ready to push through the agony of a dislocated shoulder to get England the win.It may have been thwarted, with India victorious by a slim six runs to bring one of the most thrilling series in recent times to an end in a 2-2 draw. But the selfless act of crossing the boundary with a potentially career‑threatening injury meant Woakes entered cricketing folklore – echoing Colin Cowdrey in 1963, Paul Terry and Malcolm Marshall in 1984, and Rishabh Pant at Old Trafford just a week earlier.“I don’t know what it is,” Woakes says, back home in Birmingham and awaiting further scans on the injury. “You just know you’re part of something bigger
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa says sitting on Trump’s sports council will be ‘an honor’
Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has spoken of his pride at being named to Donald Trump’s council on sports, fitness, and nutrition.Tagovailoa joins two other current NFL stars on the council, Nick Bosa and Harrison Butker, who have been backers of Trump’s Maga movement. While Tagovailoa has not publicly expressed his support for the president, who once described NFL players who knelt for the national anthem as “sons of bitches”, he said he was happy to align himself with Trump.“I think it’s pretty cool – it’s an honor, [to serve on the council]” Tagovailoa said on Wednesday. “I don’t know too much about it, but it’s an honor
British athletes could be allowed to compete in future Islamic Solidarity Games
Organisers of the Islamic Solidarity Games, a quadrennial event with 57 nations competing in multiple sports, have left the door open for British athletes to take part in future, saying such a prospect would be “interesting to see”.The latest edition of the Games is to take place in Riyadh in November and – under the Saudi sports minister as president of the governing body, the Islamic Solidarity Sports Association – there is a desire to grow its international audience, which could involve inviting new countries to take part.“It would be great quality sports. It would be interesting to see,” said Nasser Majali, secretary general of the ISSA, who was speaking in London on Wednesday. “It depends on the appetite, it depends on what we are able to do based on sustainability
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