Adult Verification System

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An Adult Verification System (AVS) is a computing system used by a website to confirm that the user attempting to access their website is of the age required (usually by law) to view the website's content, which could include sex, nudity, violence or profanity. The system is used to legally protect companies from punishment under laws against Disseminating pornography to a minor. These systems often use a credit card. The Adult Verification System is usually provided by a third-party company. In that way the same company can provide adult verification for multiple websites, thus becoming more user friendly. In 1999, Adult Verification Systems were at the center of a police crackdown on internet users viewing child pornography, known as Operation Ore, in which web users using an Adult Verification System were identified by their financial records when the company which stored the data, Landslide Inc., went into liquidation. Another problem with this system is that it is easy to use a fake script to defraud users into divulging their credit card number to an individual to use for their own purposes. ^[1]

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