New age-verification laws and tools are designed for child safety on social media and the internet, but adults are in the crosshairs, say privacy experts.

New U.S laws designed to protect minors are pulling millions of adult Americans into mandatory age-verification gates to access online content, leading to backlash from users and criticism from privacy advocates that a free and open internet is at stake. Roughly half of U.S. states have enacted or are advancing laws requiring platforms — including adult content sites, online gaming services, and social media apps — to block underage users, forcing companies to screen everyone who approaches these digital gates.

  • Kraiden@piefed.socialEnglish
    01·
    19 hours ago

    you’d have to trust the code and to be an approved system would require the government to sign off on it

    No! That’s the great part, because it’s just fancy crypto maths, there’s no reason it couldn’t be a FOSS app. Estonia has several 3rd party providers, and they do get certified, but that’s not a necessity

    So turn it off.

    Tell that to the people in China. Seriously, if you get a chance, read the article I linked. It’ll do a much better job than I ever could at explaining why what you’re describing is just about the worst possible solution to this problem imaginable.