🌐 With the introduction of #ageverification laws in many U.S. states, these systems use automated scanning to verify the authenticity and legitimacy of your ID.

🏳️‍⚧️ Transgender and gender diverse people from Kansas will effectively have to out themselves to every platform that requires age verification. This is sensitive information that many #trans people guard closely, as being outed publicly can put them at risk of violence and harassment. ‼️

https://www.theverge.com/policy/892075/age-verification-kansas-id-trans

#Privacy

🧵 (2/3)

OS Age Verification bils are not funded by a "grassroots coalition of conservative nonprofits." They're funded by #meta. This investigative work suggests it's all a massive operation to increase Meta's data harvesting (massively) whie handicapping Google And Apple.

https://masto.deluma.biz/@dogzilla/116227363139966735

Edit: It's been suggested that genAI was involved in making the reddit post. If so, (a) claims require more verification than usual and (b) the AI is pretty conversational in the reddit thread here.

Whoever did this set up a github repo with the information in it.

#privacy #AgeVerification #astroturf

Age verification can be abused by predators to seek out children. Age verification laws are requiring software to check the age of the user in more and more jurisdictions around the world. California’s laws are probably the most strict, requiring the age verification to happen in the operating system if the operating system can install apps over the Internet (which nowadays, includes all operating systems).

The legislators who pass these laws have are being paid large campaign donations (“bribed” by any other name) to argue that these laws will give parents more control over what their children see on the Internet and what apps their children use.

But now any child predator can create a website and collect information, like IP addresses and web browser fingerprints, of everyone who visits your website who is under-aged.

I can’t help but wonder if it just a coincidence that a large number of the people in the Jefferey Epstein papers have still not been brought to justice, some of whom may still be paying these bribes to politicians?

#AgeVerification #AgeVerificationLaw #EpsteinPapers #JeffereyEpstein #EpsteinClass #ChildSafety #OnlineChildSafety #ChildSafetyLegislation

Age Verification Lobbying: Dark Money, Model Legislation, Institutional Capture

https://tboteproject.com

#HackerNews #AgeVerification #Lobbying #DarkMoney #ModelLegislation #InstitutionalCapture

Lol, someone told me that #Encanto is only available with #ageverification so I had to try it.

And well, it appears to be true. You can only buy the Movie that formerly was rated "0 and up" when you're 18 now.

#ageverification laws and regulation here in #Germany and #EU have become kinda wild.

When deregulation of all of the age verification and id check requirements?

/cc @EUCommission

#AB1043 ’s Internet Age Gates Hurt Everyone

EFF has long warned against age-gating the internet. Such mandates strike at the foundation of the free and open internet. They create unnecessary and #unconstitutional barriers for adults and young people to access information and express themselves online…And none of the available #ageVerification options are perfect in terms of protecting private information, providing access to everyone, and safely handling sensitive data.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/03/ab-1043s-internet-age-gates-hurt-everyone

Online age-verification tools spread across U.S. for child safety, but adults are being surveilled

Large volumes of sensitive identity data can become targets for government demands and hackers. But at a more fundamental level, the surveillance strikes at the foundation of the free and open internet

#ageverification #surveillance #privacy #FirstAmendment #technology #tech

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2026/03/08/social-media-child-safety-internet-ai-surveillance.html

Here's what concerns me most from a privacy perspective. These bills don't just verify age once. They create a persistent identity layer inside the operating system that applications can query at will.

The commercial age verification vendors who would provide this infrastructure (Yoti, Veriff, Jumio) charge $0.10 to $2.00 per check, require proprietary SDKs, demand API keys tied to commercial accounts, and operate cloud-only with no self-hosted option. Your age verification data goes to a third-party cloud service. Every time.

Compare this to what the EU built. The EU Digital Identity Wallet under eIDAS 2.0 is open-source, self-hostable, and uses zero-knowledge proofs. You can prove you're over 18 without revealing your birth date, your name, or anything else. No per-check fees, no proprietary SDKs, no data going to a vendor's cloud. The EU's Digital Services Act puts age verification obligations on Very Large Online Platforms (45M+ monthly users), not on operating systems. FOSS projects that don't act as intermediary services are explicitly outside scope. Micro and small enterprises get additional exemptions.

#ageverification #followthemoney #privacy #digitalsurveillance

@TheLastOfHisName https://beige.party/@TheLastOfHisName/116222062028401019

CNBC: Online age-verification tools spread across U.S. for child safety, but adults are being surveilled. “New U.S laws designed for online child safety are pulling millions of adult Americans into mandatory age-verification gates that often use AI technology, and causing major headaches for social media companies attempting to strike a balance for users between legal compliance and privacy.”

Here is the age verification bill tracker, found in the official website of the advocacy group called the Free Speech Coalition (FSC). Beware of the "dystopian" #AgeVerification laws. So watch out for them. #DigitalRights #DigitalFreedom #PrivacyFirst

https://action.freespeechcoalition.com/age-verification-bills/

The age-assurance industry shouldn't exist.

Stop age verification now, and tell your governments and service providers they cannot trust these predatory corporations.

#AgeVerification #Privacy #MassSurveillance

🚨 BREAKING 🚨

The UK Information Commissioner's Office and Ofcom are pushing for tech companies to strengthen age checks.

It's disastrous that the ICO wants to somehow 'protect children’s data' by compelling 13-18 year olds to use poorly regulated digital identification products that could put their biometric data at risk.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/social-media-ico-protect-children-b2936462.html

#ageverification #privacy #digitalid #ofcom #ico #onlinesafety #ukpolitics #ukpol

Age verification, boon or bane? 🧐

https://itsfoss.com/news/distros-response-age-verification-laws/

#privacy #ageverification

If enough Canadians contact
their local representatives, as well Mark Carney's office this week, we might be spared from this authoritarian mass-surveillance measure called "Age Verification" in Canada.

The time to fight back is NOW: https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/article/social-media-ban-for-kids-under-consideration-in-online-harms-bill-carney/

Privacy is a human right essential to safety and democracy. If we do not fight to protect it, we will lose it.

#AgeVerification #MassSurveillance #Privacy #Democracy #HumanRights #Canada #CanPoli

“This broad amendment takes power away from [UK] parliament and Ofcom and hands it to ministers. The consequence of this would be every adult having to provide their personal data, or use their body and biometric features as a key to unlock the Internet."

It doesn't address the structural causes of online harms and can be used to restrict content ideologically.

🗣️ @JamesBaker

#onlinesafety #digitalid #privacy #ageverification #freedomofexpression #ukpolitics #ukpol

🚨 Wide ranging powers to restrict Internet access in the UK have been voted through 🚨

Ministers will be able to impose digital ID checks, curfews and VPN restrictions without Parliamentary scrutiny.

This can be used on websites, social media, apps and games with no need to show there's any harm to children.

Find out more ⬇️

https://www.openrightsgroup.org/press-releases/mps-give-ministers-powers-to-restrict-entire-internet/

#onlinesafety #digitalid #id #privacy #ageverification #freedomofexpression #ukpolitics #ukpol

We need to push much harder against
Age Verification laws and law proposals.

Contact your local representatives NOW to tell them you firmly oppose these privacy-destroying laws that will harm democracy and civil liberties in unprecedented ways.

#AgeVerification #Privacy #MassSurveillance #Authoritarianism

https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/03/system76-fighting-for-open-source-being-excluded-from-colorado-age-checks/

System76, instead of worrying about how to comply with Age Verification laws on it's Linux system, is going to the source and fighting back against the laws, to urge Lawmakers to exclude open-source software from those mandates all-together!

#OpenSource #AgeVerification #AgeID #system76

The state of the internet is a bunch of people who are on record for being child molesters (or are at least actively covering for said child molesters) telling you that artistic expression is immoral.

"We need mass censorship and surveillance to protect the children, the same children that there are millions of pages of criminal report documents saying we brutally abused." -Lawmakers, Corporate Executives, Celebrities, Conservative Think Tanks, etc. unironically

#Privacy #FreeSpeech #Censorship #DigitalRights #Internet #SocialMedia #AgeVerification #ClientSideScanning #DigitalID

Age verification laws are spreading fast: half of U.S. states now have age checks, with California's AB 1043 pushing OS-level "age signals." 🧩

UK, Australia, Brazil, EU, and Linux distros face the same creep toward "ID to use your computer" mandates. 🛡️

🔗 https://itsfoss.com/news/age-verification-pandemic/

#TechNews #Privacy #AgeVerification #Linux #Apple #Google #BigTech #Government #Surveillance #DigitalRights #Children #Safety #Apps #OS #Cybersecurity #OpenSource #Security #EU #UK #California #USA

#Ubuntu, #Fedora, #LinuxMint Discuss #AgeVerification Amid #California Law Backlash

https://9to5linux.com/ubuntu-fedora-linux-mint-eye-age-verification-amid-california-law-backlash

#Linux #Mint #FOSS #privacy

Linux maker System76 seeks exemption from Colorado age verification bill

#OpenSource #Linux #AgeVerification #Tech #AusNews

https://thedailyperspective.org/article/2026-03-10-linux-maker-system76-seeks-exemption-from-colorado-age-verification-bill-a6f94443

Something that's been nagging me for a bit: if there are multiple age verification providers now, and ignoring that  they're mostly in the US and owned by the worst people in the world, the power of capitalism almost certainly means that eventually, there will only be one, owned by the worst person in the world. #ageverification #privacy

@EUCommission

#AgeVerification is not a "solution", but both a convenient cop-out for you, so that you cowards needn't address platform regulation;

and a much welcome vehicle to amass more and more data of every single person, ready to use for you and even more fascist governments to come.

Nobody believes you.

Hundreds of scientists say stop! ✋🚨

Governments should pause plans for mandatory #AgeChecks on online services until serious #privacy and #security concerns are addressed.

As countries push to ban children from social media, the risk to everyone’s privacy is growing. 🔐🌍

👉 Read more on #AgeVerification, why scientist say NO & whether your country wants it: https://tuta.com/blog/age-verification-kills-anonymity

Alt...

First they came for Adult Sites And I did not speak out Because I was not interested in Adult sites Then they came for chat apps And I did not speak out Because I was not interested in chat apps Then they came for Social Media And I did not speak out Because I was not interested in Social Media Then they locked the whole web behind ID verification Then they came for VPNs And I did not speak out Because I was not interested in VPNs And there was nowhere left To speak up

@eff , #Ubuntu and Other #Distros Discuss How to Respond to Age-Verification Laws
#privacy #ageverification

https://linux.slashdot.org/story/26/03/09/0544224/eff-ubuntu-and-other-distros-discuss-how-to-respond-to-age-verification-laws?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

Why have age verification to protect the children when the real solution is simple? Just stop having children.

#protectthechildren #ageverification #Linux #parenting

#Indonesia to ban #SocialMedia for children under 16

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/06/indonesia-social-media-ban-children

#SocialMediaBan #privacy #AgeVerification #IdentityVerification #cybersecurity

⋅ Ubuntu, Fedora, Linux Mint Discuss Age Verification Amid California Law Backlash

− https://9to5linux.com/ubuntu-fedora-linux-mint-eye-age-verification-amid-california-law-backlash

#Gnu #Linux #Ubuntu #Fedora #LinuxMint #AgeVerification

#Enshittification of #law is what we see around the world. Following law will soon be very unfashionable.

#ageverification #privacy

If your system asks you to set your birthdate. Set April 4th 1984.

#ageverification #privacy #orwell

I think the best case scenario we can hope for and may get on at least some linux distros, is a system setting that says, "Which age bracket do you want the OS to report?" and we can choose either "do not report age bracket" or one of the age brackets.

Unfortunately some of the proposed laws are considering forcing age verification through a third party like Persona, which collects a lot of invasive personal info. I think it's likely that will happen eventually, because the real reason behind these laws is tracking people, not "protecting children".

#linux #ageVerification

I see a lot of Linux users being flippant about the age restriction laws requiring age verification at the operating system level.

"Ha ha, good luck enforcing that on every Linux distro out there!" they gleefully post. They should stop and think for a second. No one needs to "enforce" anything on Linux to get people to comply if they want full access to the internet.

Carl Richell at system76 put it most succinctly:

>"Should this method of age attestation become the standard, apps and websites will not assume liability when a signal is not provided and assume the lowest age bracket. Any Linux distribution that does not provide an age bracket signal will result in a nerfed internet for their users."<

https://blog.system76.com/post/system76-on-age-verification

#linux #ageVerification

#India’s #Karnataka signals intent to ban #SocialMedia for under-16s

https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/06/indias-karnataka-signals-intent-to-ban-social-media-for-under-16s/

#privacy #AgeVerification #SocialMediaBan #IdentityVerification #cybersecurity