‘Gen Z’ says UK government should be using more Biometrics

Two-thirds (62%) of ‘Generation Z’ don’t think that the UK Government is doing enough to protect children from accessing adult content.

That’s the perhaps surprising result coming out of a new study by a Norwegian biometric identification and fingerprint sensor solutions provider IDEX Biometrics ASA, working with UK market research specialist Arlington Research.

Gen Z – which is usually defined anyone born 1995 or after, with no end-date to define the next age cohort at present universally agreed – seems to be having some guilt feelings about how easy its members found accessing inappropriate online content, especially porn. 

Thus only 12% of respondents aged 18 or over responding to the survey had never accessed content they shouldn’t have while underage, including gaming, gambling, social or adult sites.

Plus, more than half of these respondents – 56% – admit to accessing adult sites or apps while they were underage. Nearly a third (30%) were less than 14 years old when they first accessed porn.

Now, more than one in ten (11%) of those who viewed adult content underage admit they now regret accessing these sites, while a further 10% state they were traumatised by what they saw. 

These concerns have led those in Generation Z to want to shield the next generation from repeating that experience, says the company, pointing to the 70% of respondents who “believe it’s important to protect children from accessing porn”.

More than half (53%) of all respondents believe biometrics, such as fingerprints, should be used to protect underage children from accessing online porn, a proportion even higher among 16-17-year olds (80%).

Interestingly, it’s not just adult content that young users want to see restricted; social media, gaming and gambling sites are also highlighted by young users as being in need of age verification. In the results, nearly two-thirds (62%) of Generation Z are said to think the Government should do more to protect children from accessing social media underage, while 80% believe it’s important to protect under 18s from online gambling.

The findings also show that Generation Z believe in this new biometric solution so much they’re willing to pay for the security it provides, as 40% claim they’d be happy to pay for an identity card with fingerprint protection.

“This research shows Generation Z is increasingly concerned about online safety and welcome biometric technology as a solution to underage access to potentially harmful websites,” comments David Orme, SVP, IDEX Biometrics ASA.

“Fingerprint authorisation offers a secure and convenient way for consumers to verify their age and make sure they can browse the internet safely.”