Age verification laws are rapidly proliferating around the world, creating a dangerous and confusing tangle of rules about what we’re all allowed to see and do online. In the U.S., more than half of all states have now passed laws imposing age-verification requirements on online platforms. And just last week, an Australian law barring access to social media for anyone under 16 went into effect. Though these mandates claim to protect children, in practice they create harmful censorship and surveillance regimes that put everyone—adults and young people alike—at risk.
The term “age verification” is used to describe a wide range of age assurance technologies, including age verification systems that force you to upload government ID, age estimation tools that scan your face, and other technologies that infer your age by making you share personal data. While different laws call for different methods, every approach to age verification out there collects your sensitive, personal information and creates barriers to accessing the internet.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by this onslaught of laws and the invasive technologies behind them, you’re not alone. It’s a lot. But understanding how these mandates work and who they harm is critical to keeping yourself and your loved ones safe online. Age verification is lurking around every corner these days, so we must fight back to protect the internet that we know and love.
That’s why we recently launched EFF’s Age Verification Resource Hub (eff.org/age): a one-stop shop to understand what these laws do, what’s at stake, and why EFF opposes all forms of age verification. You can also learn how to protect yourself and how to join the fight for a free, open, private, and, yes, safe internet.
To celebrate the launch of eff.org/age, and to hear directly from you how we can be most helpful in this fight, we’re also hosting two exciting events: Through Wednesday, Dec. 17, we're hosting a Reddit AMA on r/privacy where our experts will answer your questions on age verification. And on Thursday, Jan. 15, we'll livestream a free panel discussion about age verification. Explore, share, and join us in the fight for a better internet.
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🚘 ALPR AT THE BORDER: Law enforcement agencies have installed a massive dragnet of vehicle-tracking automated license plate readers (ALPRs) in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. In many cases, the agencies have gone out of their way to disguise the cameras from public view. So, what do these cameras look like? Read our guide to identifying ALPR systems when you're driving the open road along the border.
