this post was submitted on 04 Mar 2026
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I'm struggling to think of any online services for which I'd be willing to verify my identity or age (neilzone.co.uk)
submitted 2 days ago by Beep@lemmus.org to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 157 points 2 days ago (3 children)

The problem with "age" verification is that politicians are confusing it with identity verification.

I should not have to prove my name and other biometrics to prove age.

Age verification is the fascist way to get people to identify themselves and their online activity. Almost every state that has some sort of age verification law has zero method to actually verify age. No digital ID service, no way to share a credential for verification.

They want people to upload an ID.

This isn't about keeping children safe and it never is. It's about identifying critics of the government.

[–] pastermil@sh.itjust.works 67 points 2 days ago

I hate to point out the obvious, but they didn't accidentally confuse the two..

[–] Limerance@piefed.social 21 points 2 days ago (1 children)

It is possible to build an age verification system, where you use your actual ID with a cryptographic process without any personal data. The technology has existed for decades now.

[–] WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

problems with that:

  • how do you verify that it works the way they say it works
  • how do you make yourself heard when it doesn't

so far the only answer I am aware of for these questions is "you don't"

[–] Limerance@piefed.social 1 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Public key cryptography and signatures are common technologies nowadays.

[–] WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 hours ago

you won't be able to use that to verify the integrity of the system when the worry is that its creators are dishonest. you may be able to verify that something has happened (e.g. a successful attestation), but you won't be able to tell if the attestation was actually executed for your device and the app in question, or it was proxied to another device the devs run to fake attestations.

[–] Virtvirt588@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

The additional problem with that is straight up discrimination. We're replacing a predatory system with another discriminatory system. It is essentially another path that leads to the same thing. Fighting fascism with fascism.

[–] lost_faith@lemmy.ca 7 points 2 days ago

Force the building of a light "honour based" age verification system (just enter your birthday, we trust you not to lie to us), then as more comply add more requirements to it til all accounts are linked and they know when you shit