this post was submitted on 08 Mar 2026
368 points (99.5% liked)

Technology

82460 readers
4523 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.

Our Rules

  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related news or articles.
  3. Be excellent to each other!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
  10. Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.

Approved Bots

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
L3s@lemmy.world
enu@lemmy.world
technopagan@lemmy.world
L4s@lemmy.world
L3s@hackingne.ws
368
Online age-verification tools spread across U.S. for child safety, but adults are being surveilled (www.cnbc.com)
submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by throws_lemy@lemmy.nz to c/technology@lemmy.world
82 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

New U.S laws designed to protect minors are pulling millions of adult Americans into mandatory age-verification gates to access online content, leading to backlash from users and criticism from privacy advocates that a free and open internet is at stake. Roughly half of U.S. states have enacted or are advancing laws requiring platforms — including adult content sites, online gaming services, and social media apps — to block underage users, forcing companies to screen everyone who approaches these digital gates.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] paraphrand@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

If that ID is only verified by an underpaid store clerk, that means the system is already a nonstarter. That person is ripe for corruption.

This sort of idea always rolls back up to the government being directly involved if you game it out. Be it federal or state or province or whatever.

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

The underpaid clerk already sells booze and cigarettes.

The age token would be free at the time of acquisition (paid by taxes of course).

Yes, you'd get the "buy me a porn token please!" request behind the 7-11, but I'd bet it would be far less frequent than requests to buy booze.

[–] yermaw@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago

No system is perfect. The "show us your face so we can guess your age" thing we have in the UK (i think its an American company anyway) can be tricked by showing it the guy from Death Stranding, and i assume any other sufficiently realistic game.