LONDON — Major porn providers operating in the U.K., including Pornhub, have confirmed to Ofcom that they will bring in age checks by July 25, when the online watchdog’s Protection of Children’s Codes come into force.

Under the U.K.’s Online Safety Act, which began coming into force this year, age assurance methods must be “highly effective” at determining whether a user is under 18. These could include open banking, photo ID matching, and facial age estimation, according to guidance set out by Ofcom in January. 

“Society has long protected youngsters from products that aren’t suitable for them, from alcohol to smoking and gambling. But for too long children have only been one click away from harmful pornography online,” Oliver Griffiths, Ofcom Group Director of Online Safety, said Thursday.

“Now, change is happening. These age checks will bring pornography into line with how we treat adult services in the real world, without compromising access and privacy for over-18s.” 

Research by Ofcom also published on Thursday found that eight percent of children aged 8 to 14 visited a porn site or app in a month, with boys aged 13 to 14 significantly more likely than girls the same age to do so. 

Under the Online Safety Act, online pornography services must also keep written records explaining how they ensure that age assurance methods protect the privacy of adult users.