The 'papers, please' era of the internet will decimate your privacy
Points and comments are a snapshot, not live.
Mandatory age verification laws are undermining online anonymity and privacy.
Australia's under-16 social media ban, effective December 2025, forces platforms to collect biometric data or government IDs via third-party apps like k-ID. Research shows 70% of kids still use social media, and a breach of Discord's age-verification support system exposed 68,000 Australians' identities. The UK plans an "Australia-plus" version that may target VPN users. In the US, 19 states have minor-access laws and Congress is considering the KIDS Act, which would mandate age verification nationwide, risking data breaches, censorship, and the end of anonymous speech.
What commenters are saying
Commenters were divided over the scope of the problem. Some argued that privacy is already destroyed by NSA surveillance and corporate data collection, making age verification just a formality. Others countered that anonymity is constitutionally protected for political speech, citing Supreme Court precedent, and that forced identification would harm marginalized speakers more than it would stop foreign disinformation. A side thread contrasted libraries' privacy practices-such as salting MAC addresses and deleting circulation records-with the demands of verification mandates.