Tootfinder

"On Parenting & Age Verification" is the best piece I've read by @… . I'm honored to be referenced in it too!
https://ghost.thenewoil.org/on-parenti…

Waymo says it is continuing to "refine" its system preventing kids under 18 from riding alone, after adult riders reported new age-verification checks (Aarian Marshall/Wired)
https://www.wired.com/story/waymo-trying-to-crack-down-on-solo-kids…

Waymo Is Trying to Crack Down on Solo Kids in Driverless Cars
As adult riders report new age-verification checks, the self-driving car company says it’s continuing to “refine” its system in places where kids aren’t allowed to ride alone.

Looks like they covered all the buzzwords in their solution. And so much complexity which can (and will) go wrong 🙄
New Company Hopes to Build Age-Verification Tech into Vape Cartridges - Slashdot https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/03/3

Discord pushes back global age verification rollout amid criticism, promises transparency
https://apnews.com/article/discord-global-age-verification-privacy-f508653aad57f9f1b45175acee1ebcde

Discord pushes back global age verification rollout amid criticism, promises transparency
Discord is postponing its controversial age verification policy after users of the popular platform for gamers to communicate online expressed strong objections and privacy concerns. The company announced earlier this month it would roll out an age verification policy in March that would include face scanning or requests for an ID upload for users it could not determine were adults. When it rolls out the revised age verification system in the second half of 2026, Discord will now offer more opt…

The government of California is implementing a law that requires operating system providers to implement some form of age verification into their account setup procedures.
Assembly Bill No. 1043 was approved by California governor Gavin Newsom in October of last year, and becomes active on January 1, 2027 (via The Lunduke Journal).
The bill states, among other factors, that "An operating system provider shall do all of the following:"
"(1) Provide an accessib…

A new California law says all operating systems, including Linux, need to have some form of age verification at account setup
It's basic, and by the looks of it, near unenforceable.

The Age-Verification Trap — Verifying user’s ages undermines everyone’s data protection
Social media is going the way of alcohol, gambling, and other social sins: Societies are deciding it’s no longer kid stuff. Lawmakers point to compulsive use, exposure to harmful content, and mounting concerns about adolescent mental health. So, many propose to set a minimum age, usually 13 or 16.
🕵️

Is Age Verification a Trap?
Platforms are caught in a dilemma: enforce age restrictions or protect user privacy. How are they navigating this tricky terrain?

The FTC says it won't enforce COPPA against companies using age verification tools as long as they use the collected data only to verify a user's age (Suzanne Smalley/The Record)
https://therecord.media/ftc-says-it-wont-enforce-coppa-age-verification

FTC says it won’t enforce COPPA against proper use of age verification tools
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Wednesday issued a policy statement advising industry that it will not bring enforcement actions against website and online service providers who collect, use and share personal data using age verification technologies.

FTC says it won’t enforce COPPA against proper use of age verification tools https://therecord.media/ftc-says-it-wont-enforce-coppa-age-verification

Discord says it won't roll out age verification globally next month as previously announced, delaying the change until H2 after it adds verification options (Stevie Bonifield/The Verge)
https://www.theverge.com/policy/883852/discord-age-verification-…

Discord is delaying its global age verification rollout
Discord will delay a planned global rollout of age verification for accounts accessing restricted content, promising more options and transparency.

Its time for all #iphone users to seriously consider moving out of the #Apple ecosystem.
https://mastodon.social/@campusc…

Age verification, but it's remembering affordable personal computers

"The surveillance state runs on volunteers: people who do the implementation work for free, out of genuine conviction, with no paper trail connecting them to the money that wrote the laws."
https://www.sambent.com/the-engineer-who-tried-to-put-ag…

RE: https://toot.cafe/@soapdog/116290204253136215
“So it failed age verification and locked me out of many features. Bear in mind, I am 45 years old. I have an Apple account for 25 years, the age of my personal account alone should already verify my age.
C…

In a time of creeping bullshit age verification, users of VPNs, private browsing sessions, the dark web (Tor), the small web, and Gemini shall have serious advantages

Switching from Arch to Slackware because of age verification, while all the Ubuntu users are switching from Ubuntu to Arch because of AI.

Discord puts global age verification policy on hold after backlash https://therecord.media/discord-age-verification-policy-on-hold-after-backlash

Guess who's behind the sudden rush of age verification legislation?
In the US, #Meta is spending $26.3 Million to hire at least 86 Lobbyists from 40 lobbying firms, and lobbying in at least 45 states. It is confirmed that Meta wrote the Louisiana age verification bill.
In the EU, Meta is spending ten million euros annually on lobbying, retaining 18 lobbying firms.
Age verificat…

It’s time to hold #VRChat’s feet to the fire https://feedback.vrchat.com/feature-requests/p/find-an-age-verification-provider-not-linked-to-palant…

Discord says it "ran a limited test of Persona in the UK" to verify user ages and "that test has since concluded", distancing itself from Persona amid backlash (Emma Roth/The Verge)
https://www.theverge.com/tech/878369/discord-persona-age-verificatio…

Discord distances itself from Persona age verification after user backlash
Discord has removed references to testing Persona age verification in the UK.

Anyone wanna crash course me in the OS level age check stuff for GNU Linux specifically?
#linux #age_verification

Discord, the online communication platform beloved of gamers and chat groups around the world, is experiencing a severe backlash over its rollout of age assurance tech.
https://www.computing.co.uk/news/2026/security/discord-faces-backlash-over-age-…

Discord faces backlash over age verification
Discord, the online communication platform beloved of gamers and chat groups around the world, is experiencing a severe backlash over its rollout of age assurance ...

Who does not like Linux when the will to resist is the hallmark of the community.
Age verification in the OS? No, not with Ageless OS
https://itsfoss.com/news/ageless-linux/?ref=foss-weekly-newsletter

The UK ICO fines Reddit £14.47M for unlawfully using children's personal information; Reddit began verifying user ages in July 2025 to comply with the UK OSA (Tom Singleton/BBC)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyx0xggepjo

Reddit fined £14m by UK data watchdog over age verification checks
The UK's data watchdog said the failings meant children could be exposed to harmful material online.

Age verification, but you just have to say how much a movie ticket should cost.
https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/@neil/116438578273419908j
@…

European Commission advertised an age checking app. Hackers discovered it took 2 minutes to break it.
The good news is the EU open-sourced the app from the beginning. The bad news is the EU did not think of assessing the security of such a sensitive app before making a political statement.

The discussion around "age verification" in systemd/XDG has been largely focused against the California law. But honestly, there's a much deeper problem there.
Firstly, the data collected. The question initially asked is "are you at least 18 years old?" However, that's not the data collected. In fact, the data collected is not even the age — it's the full birth date. It's a perfect example of collecting more data than you need, and a sensitive information too, and sharing it with any application that asks.
Secondly, the extended goal of "parental controls" used as a justification to collect more data. When you think about it, you realize how bad this is: it isn't the case of asking the user about their birth date (with the assumption that a kid will enter a fake date to workaround the limitations). It is effectively a tool for *parents* to impose restrictions on their children, which means that they are more likely to enter the real date to ensure that these restrictions work. And given how popular sharenting is today, do you really think they'd come up with a fake birth date that happens to roughly match their child's age?
This is simply irresponsible.
https://github.com/flatpak/xdg-desktop-portal/pull/1922

It seems so California-centric that the *only* means that Apple supports for age verification in the UK is driving licence or credit card (not debit card) - of which many UK adults have neither.

Not enough people are talking about the rationale for systemd introducing the age field in userdbd (which is *not* mandatory and currently fully *optional*). In the very post here, it is clear that they are doing it because xdg-desktop-portal(!) is adding an age verification thingy (and potentially also accountsservice). This IMO is *far* more dangerous because those components are essential nowadays.

userdb: add birthDate field to JSON user records by dylanmtaylor · Pull Request #40954 · systemd/systemd
Stores the user's birth date for age verification, as required by recent laws in California (AB-1043), Colorado (SB26-051), Brazil (Lei 15.211/2025), etc. The xdg-desktop-portal project is addi...

I've seen a bunch of "the CA age verification law is the best way to do a bad thing and so we shouldn't oppose compliance" takes, which others are rightly pointing out is a bad stance because it's blindingly obvious that compliance now sets the stage for compliance later and the clearly set up later is mandatory verification of age data. Even if you think that, for example, California's current "progressive" government won't go there, we're all currently seeing just how easy it is for a new government to pick up the oppressive tools the "good" government was using "restraint" with and put them to worse ends.
On the other hand, I'll freely admit that distros *do* need a way to shield themselves from liability right now. The clear (to me; IANAL) correct solution is to say on your website "don't download this OS if you're in a jurisdiction where it's not legal for us to provide it."). Assuming this does put you in the clear liability-wise, it has several positive effects:
- Stops zero people from downloading it.
- Makes it clear that your project will not collaborate with fascists/oppressive regime enjoyers.
- Means that when the next law makes verifying user ages mandatory (and/or explicitly requires using Palantir-adjacent services to do so) you've already got a strategy in place and there's no need for a "debate" in your "community" about compliance.
- Gets users more practice with "the law is malicious/needlessly bureaucratic/oppressive; let's ignore it" which to be honest people in general clearly desperately need at this point.
- Is the most effective political move if you want to resist the way things are going. Forcing the other side to explain why "California bans Linux" is good rhetorical strategy. Make *them* try to explain "well it's actually not so harmful since we let users set it themselves" and answer your follow-up "but what if next year the requirements change; I just refuse to go along with this slippery slope stuff and I'm not bothered if that means you want to *ban* me."
#AgeVerification

It is ironic that the European Commission has introduced a verification method by which its citizens must have their smartphones with them all the time.
https://theprivacydad.com/a-first-look-at-the-eu-age-verification-app/

Some common sense in the Apple age verification business.

WTF
"California introduces age verification law for all operating systems, including Linux and SteamOS — user age verified during OS account setup" | Tom's Hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/software/operating-systems/…

California introduces age verification law for all operating systems, including Linux and SteamOS — user age verified during OS account setup
AB 1043 also requires OS providers to pipe a real-time age checker to every app developer who requests it.

@…, bro, this you?
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-brussels-launched-age…

Brussels launched an age checking app. Hackers say it took them 2 minutes to break it.
Cyber experts say they have found holes in Brussels’ age verification app, despite claims by the EU executive that it is “technically ready.”

The EU digital age verification app.
Statement:
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/STATEMENT_26_817
The technology (opensource):

MX Linux Pushes Back Against Age Verification: A Stand for Privacy and Open Source Principles :mxlinux: 👏
https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/mx-linux-pushes-back-against-age-verification-stand-privacy-and-open-sou…

We're at the week's half-way mark and the infosec news machine is operating on overdrive.
Don't miss today's Metacurity for the most crucial developments you should know, including
--Ex-Trenchant exec gets 7 years for selling hacking tools to Russian zero-day broker,
--Rubio orders diplomats to fight against data sovereignty,
--UNC2814 breached 53 organizations,
--Anthropic PBC’s chatbot carried out attacks against Mexican government,
--DHS…

Ex-Trenchant exec gets 7+ years for selling hacking tools to Russian zero-day broker
Rubio orders diplomats to fight against data sovereignty, UNC2814 breached 53 organizations, Anthropic PBC’s chatbot attacked the Mexican government, DHS sued for scanning protestors' faces, Wynn Resorts almost certainly paid ransom, Discord postpones age verification policy, much more

Here it is at last: the EU age verification framework (dependent on the continuing goodwill of two American teracorps) https://ageverification.dev/

Reddit has been fined £14.47m by the UK's data watchdog for unlawfully using children's personal information.
#reddit

Reddit fined £14m by UK data watchdog over age verification checks
The UK's data watchdog said the failings meant children could be exposed to harmful material online.

@…, wat is jullie standpunt op de age verification app van de EU en wetten rondom age verification? (https://ec.social-network.europa.eu/@E

We’ve been saying this for years now, and we’re going to keep saying it until the message finally sinks in:
mandatory age verification creates massive, centralized honeypots of sensitive biometric data that will inevitably be breached.
Every single time.
And every single time it happens,
the politicians who mandated these systems and the companies that built them act shocked—shocked!
—that collecting enormous databases of government IDs, facial scans, and bio…

Hackers Expose The Massive Surveillance Stack Hiding Inside Your “Age Verification” Check
We’ve been saying this for years now, and we’re going to keep saying it until the message finally sinks in: mandatory age verification creates massive, centralized honeypots of sensitiv…

I think the reason Meta et al are pushing for the OS age thing is that they know there's no way that anything they can do themselves for age verification will satisfy the regulators and/or cause them to have to pass data to 3rd party dodgy verifiers; they'll always get the blame if kids find a way around it if it's done at their end.

Congress Is Considering Abolishing Your Right to Be Anonymous Online
https://theintercept.com/2026/03/05/kosa-online-age-verification-free-speech-privacy/

Where does the user's age belong?
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2026-March/043534.html?ref=itsfoss.com

I’m confused as to why Von der Leyen is referring to “an app” (3:05 min) in her Age Verification announcement this week (https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/stories/M-009975).
I doesn't read like there will be one app for all EU citizens:
“One common set of standar…

Discord says that the "vast majority of people can continue using Discord exactly as they do today" without needing to use a face scan or ID to verify their age (The Verge)
https://www.theverge.com/tech/876575/discord-age-verification-vas…

Discord says ‘vast majority’ of users won’t see its new age verification setup
Discord says the “vast majority” of people won’t need to scan their face or present their government ID to use the platform when it implements age verification in March.

Wouldn’t be surprised if we start seeing 3d-printed generic heads used as a privacy-focused workaround for identity or age verification done via intrusive smartphone or webcam face scan.
Just thinking about that, for no reason https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1d67vdlk1ko

What I don't understand with all this age verification stuff in systemd and other places is, if I want to know how old a person is on my software/website, why would I ask the OS?

denial ← current step
anger
bargaining
depression
acceptance
https://www.theverge.com/tech/876575/discord-age-verification-vast-majority-users-inference

6. Further damning items 3 and 4, centralizing technological control is dangerous; systems like those propped up by the current age verification mania are the infrastructure of an authoritarian panopticon regardless of their putative purpose.

@… Life would be so much easier if people just used @… . The issuer of the document could verify the age of the users and they could just anonymously pass this verification to each platform that needs age verification.

Roblox unveils Kids accounts for users aged 5-8 and Select accounts for ages 9-15, with age verification, rolling out in June; games for both must pass a review (Jay Peters/The Verge)
https://www.theverge.com/games/910218/roblox-age-verification…

Roblox will need age verification to make sure you’re at least 9 years old
Roblox is rolling out new Roblox Kids and Roblox Select accounts, and if you want to play any Roblox game that’s intended for users nine or older, you will have to complete an age check.

Es ist nicht zu glauben, was alles in den Epstein-Akten steht.
#epstein

Free Tool Says it Can Bypass Discord's Age Verification Check With a 3D Model https://www.404media.co/free-tool-says-it-can-bypass-discords-age-verification-check-with-a-3d-model/

Age verification in #Gentoo: if you're using Gentoo, you must be old enough. Problem solved.
#shitposting

Cyber experts say the EU's age verification app has glaring privacy and security problems; after saying it was ready, EU officials say the app is a "demo" (Politico)
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-brussels-laun…

Brussels launched an age checking app. Hackers say it took them 2 minutes to break it.
Cyber experts say they have found holes in Brussels’ age verification app, despite claims by the EU executive that it is “technically ready.”

Uploading my ID to comply with age verification requirements

Discord plans to roll out age verification globally starting in March to access some content; all accounts will have a "teen-appropriate experience by default" (Stevie Bonifield/The Verge)
https://www.theverge.com/tech/875309/discord-age-verification-g…

Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month
Starting in March, all Discord users will have a “teen” experience by default unless they complete age verification using a video selfie or ID.

«#Proton CEO warns global #ageVerification push will mean "the death of anonymity #online"
Protecting children #online

Proton CEO warns global age verification push will mean "the death of anonymity online"
Protecting children online is crucial, but forcing every user to hand over their ID is a privacy nightmare waiting to happen, according to the head of the Swiss privacy firm

The future of age verification will be name and sex verification.
I'm fully expecting western governments to start to require this within the next few years.

13yo: "DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD"
me: "What?"
13yo: "Can we get an owl?"
me: "Uhh... what?"
13yo: "Can we get an owl?"
(Maybe age verification is a good idea after all? I don't want my kids getting Ideas from the internet..)

That discord age verification hopefully kickstarts some usable alternatives. Self hosted services are still hard for the average user to setup and get into

Oh, no.
My favorite scripting language is the
#Epsteinfiles #bash
https://www.justice.gov…

Age Verification | United States Department of Justice

The best part about all this age verification bullshit everywhere is that it's just going to inspire and push people to find ways around it. People will find ways, and they already are.

FTC push for age verification a ‘major landmark’ for spread of the tool https://therecord.media/ftc-push-for-age-verification-a-major-landmark-for-implementation

This is the only correct action to take when a web site asks you for age verification.
Tell all your friends.

Sources:
https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/18/systemd_260/
https://www.

O...kay... The BASH Reference Manual is in the Epstein Files
https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet 9/EFTA00315849.pdf
Well, I guess that helps explain why it's millions of pages long... 😉

Age Verification | United States Department of Justice

This is a good time to go disable systemd-userdbd if you haven't already (re: systemd complying in advance with bullshit age verification stuff).
Debian has it as a separate package which is optional, so you can uninstall it unless you use systemd-homed (another optional component).

You can search for any tech guy's name and they plop out of the files.
Besides the shady mail conversations you can see there's also Steven Sinofsky's Retirement Agreement in there for some reason in case you wanted to see how that looks like.
https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Data…

Age Verification | United States Department of Justice

The UK ICO fines Reddit £14.47M for unlawfully using children's personal information; Reddit began verifying user ages in July 2025 to comply with the UK OSA (Tom Singleton/BBC)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyx0xggepjo

Reddit fined £14m by UK data watchdog over age verification checks
The UK's data watchdog said the failings meant children could be exposed to harmful material online.

From: @…
https://infosec.exchange/@Em0nM4stodon/116031435192287968

The European Commission launches a DSA investigation into Snapchat for failing to protect children, including assessing its age verification measures (Eliza Gkritsi/Politico)
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-probes-snapchat-for-fa…

EU probes Snapchat for failing to protect kids from grooming and illegal goods
Investigation comes amid growing scrutiny of the impact and liability of technology platforms towards kids.

Survey of 1,050 Australian teens: ~60% said they retained access to social media accounts after ban; two-thirds say platforms took no action to remove accounts (Sasha Rogelberg/Fortune)
https://fortune.com/2026/04/25/australia-social-me…

Most Australian teens admit the social media ban isn’t working as they try to sidestep age verification blocks with face masks and their parents’ IDs
A new survey found more than 60% of Australian teens are still using at least one social media platform following a ban implemented last year.

For 30 years, we were fine with an unencumbered internet. For 20ish years, we've had social media, and blogs before that. An entire generation was raised on the internet (I'd argue for the better).
And now, all of the sudden in the year 2026, every government on the planet is mysteriously deciding that we urgently need to do age verification.

Wisconsinites Can Keep Watching Porn After Governor Vetoes Age Verification Bill https://www.404media.co/wisconsin-age-verification-bill-vetoed/

Is moltbook doing the required age verification?

The EU unveils an open-source age verification app that requires legal ID to shield minors from harmful content, aiming to standardize verification in the bloc (Gian Volpicelli/Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/20

Australia's online age restrictions take effect, requiring platforms to verify users are 18 before they can access content including porn and R-rated games (Ahmed Yussuf/ABC)
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-09/privacy-c…

Age verification for R-rated games and websites raises privacy concerns
New online safety codes requiring R-rated games and websites to verify their users' ages come into effect, prompting concerns about online privacy.

Isn't it ironic - world leaders have problems agreeing on most things like war, pollution, poverty etc. But when someone say 'lets lock down the Internet behond wonky age verification in OS's, apps and on web sites' most of them agree #privacy #surveillance

Discord to require video selfies or government IDs to verify all users’ ages https://therecord.media/discord-age-verification-selfies

Apple rolls out mandatory UK age verification with iOS 26.4, requiring users to provide a credit card or ID, a first in Europe, after UK government pressure (Tim Bradshaw/Financial Times)
https://www.ft.com/content/c36dc645-8cd4-4e69-a9ce-3a0ac4071264

Turkey launches a review of how social media platforms handle children's data as it prepares new rules that include identity verification and age restrictions (Turkish Minute)
https://www.turkishminute.com/2026/02/21/turkey…

Turkey reviews major social media platforms' handling of children’s data - Turkish Minute
Turkey’s data protection watchdog has opened a review of how six major social media platforms process children’s personal data, as Ankara prepares separate legislation that would tighten state control over online accounts and content.

Age verification mandates are great in the sense that they're essentially state-sponsored hacking practice sessions for kids.

How age-verification laws to enhance online child safety are raising surveillance concerns for adults; ~50% of US states have enacted or are advancing such laws (Barbara Booth/CNBC)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/08/social-media-child-safety-internet-ai-…

Online age-verification tools spread across U.S. for child safety, but adults are being surveilled
New age-verification laws and tools are designed for child safety on social media and the internet, but adults are in the crosshairs, say privacy experts.

Roblox agrees to pay $12.5M and implement age verification for all users as part of a settlement with Nevada over claims it failed to protect young users (Jessica Hill/Associated Press)
https://apnews.com/article/roblox-nevada-settlement-28b3d7d7a483dc284…

Roblox reaches $12 million settlement with Nevada over youth protections
The interactive gaming platform Roblox, popular among children and teens, has reached an over $12 million agreement with the state of Nevada over its protections for young users. Attorney General Aaron Ford said Wednesday the company will enhance safety features for young users and provide funds for nondigital youth programs. He calls it a first-of-its-kind settlement with a state. Roblox faces litigation in other states as prosecutors file lawsuits against social media companies over the role …

May we please have a good Discord alternative now?
CW for quoted toot: Discord, Age verification (aka fascism that some people believe is good)
https://meta.masto.host/@GamingNews/116046127433639490

‘We’re not trying to remake the economy’: FTC’s Mufarrige charts new course on tech enforcement https://therecord.media/ftc-mufarrige-interview-chart-new-course-on-tech-enforcement