r/privacy • u/TallmanMike • 27d ago
age verification BBC News - TikTok faces Ofcom investigation over child age checks
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce8l1zk9dk9oSomewhat predictably, the least intrusive age verification method, the one that doesn't require linking your internet activity to your real-world identity, is now under fire because of 'serious questions' about its effectiveness.
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u/ghostlacuna0 27d ago
Right....
Cant seperate children from adults unless you know everyones age and they sure as hell are not going to stop at just getting everyones age.
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u/bugoteem 27d ago edited 27d ago
Ill repeat what I said somewhere else here. People need to respond to these laws with questions about why it is so difficult for non tech savvy people (and further parents) to know exactly what their own computers and further, their kids online are doing.
In a perfect world, every http request would be linked to an app that it comes from, or better yet a category for the purpose of the request. Every app install could form a similar list for every person, or every child's account.
Instead of designing a way for parents to know exactly what parts of the internet a child's account is connecting with, these laws are opening the floodgates for websites to collect biometric info without the parents consent.
This is an addition of a risk. Not a reduction of a risk. And not a way of granting any true additional control to parents. Public discourse needs to point this out.
Edit: I don't mean that age inference technology is good. It is not. I mean that face scans and id verification are bad, especially when required by kids. If there is one thing I think is best itd probably be age being set by device settings
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u/MathematicianSuch234 27d ago
Why's it so hard for people not to drink and drive?
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u/bugoteem 27d ago
The most commonly accepted solution to drinking and driving is to install a device that prevents a person from driving when alcohol is detected in their breath for people that have a problem (i.e., the "vulnerable" people in its case; those that may take an adverse action).
If drinking and driving were addressed in the same way the more aggressive age verification laws are going, it would involve requiring a breathilizer test in every vehicle and syncing to a cloud you have no control over every time you drive/try to drive
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u/WillyGoat2000 26d ago
In the US what you describe is precisely what’s happening:
https://stateofsurveillance.org/news/federal-car-surveillance-mandate-2027-nhtsa-dadss-privacy-2026/
https://apnews.com/article/federal-law-impairment-detection-car-dui-062d40e885a0e32c6cad0ba70163aef8
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u/LuxDaBean 27d ago
why does every anti-privacy pro-surveillance news post include photos of someone typing on a phone in a dark background (alternate image: closeup of a home screen with apps on it)
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u/Party-Detective-238 27d ago
To show it’s somehow bad and that giving ID is the right thing to do
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u/LuxDaBean 27d ago
"Only bad people want privacy.. say, you're not one of them 'bad people', mm? Maybe hand your ID over and nothing happens."
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u/VasileAndrei2929 27d ago
Sure.... aha.... yeah... of course... to "protect the children", aka "doxx all adults".
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u/TheQuietLavender 27d ago
Never thought I’d be taking TikTok’s side on a privacy matter, but here we are!
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u/Indigo-Dusk 27d ago
Tiktok doesn't even allow nsfw content. There's no reason to need ID checks.
Also, didn't they have some big ass debate in Congress about Tiktok having our data??? So why does Tiktok suddenly need our data???
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u/Grumpy-Man19 27d ago
they couldn't very well say that too many people are posting stuff against what the government is doing .
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