That’s just the reality of doing business on the Internet.

That's just not true. You can absolutely get by on the internet remaining pretty much anonymous, as it is. Very few services need (and verify) your personal data; when they do it's basically always when it's government-mandated, and it's for things that have a "physical" equivalent.

i.e. creating a bank account online requires your actual ID, but so it would if you tried to do it "offline" in a physical bank (and you largely have a choice on whether or not you do it online).

Then you have stuff like online shopping and such where most people probably use their actual personal information but you don't have to and it's generally not checked.

This is an unprecedented change, where suddenly for access to a free service someone needs to ask for and validate some very private details. And it fucking sucks.

While Australia’s new legislation is ham-fisted and poorly thought out, the intent isn’t wrong and there’s broad consensus for it (77% approval in Australia). We need to do something about the uncontrolled exploitation, manipulation and endangerment of minors by social media services.

That's the issue though; I agree that something needs to be done, but you need to do it more or less correctly on the first try or you'll probably make it even worse.