Privacy is For the Children (Too)

"In the past few years, governments across the world have rolled out different digital identification options, and now there are efforts encouraging online companies to implement identity and age verification requirements with digital ID in mind. This blog is the third in a short series that explains digital ID and the pending use case of age verification. Here, we cover alternative frameworks on age controls, updates on parental controls, and the importance of digital privacy in an increasingly hostile climate politically."

"It's obvious: age verification will not keep children safe online. Rather, it is a large proverbial hammer that nails everyone-adults and young people alike-into restrictive parameters of what the government deems appropriate content. That reality is more obvious and tangible now that we've seen age-restrictive regulations roll out in various states and countries. But that doesn't have to be the future if we turn away from age-gating the web."

Governments worldwide have deployed various digital identification systems and are encouraging companies to adopt identity and age verification tied to digital IDs. Age verification laws have been implemented in multiple states and countries, often imposing broad restrictions that affect adults and young people alike. Age-gating does not reliably keep children safe online and can create privacy, access, and expression harms. Online risks for minors fall into content, conduct, and contact categories: exposure to harmful content, harmful behaviors like cyberbullying, and dangerous contact or grooming. Existing parental controls can mitigate some harms without resorting to mandatory age verification. Technology alone cannot resolve the complex social problem of child safety.

Read at Electronic Frontier Foundation