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It is for parents to raise their children. Not platforms.

The European Age Verification App is ready.

It will allow users to prove their age when accessing online platforms. Just like shops ask for proof of age for people buying alcoholic beverages.

And it ticks all the boxes:
✅ Highest privacy standards in the world
✅ Works on any device
✅ Easy to use
✅ Fully open source

More info: link.europa.eu/HmnrJc

Statement by President von der Leyen with Executive Vice-President Virkkunen on the digital age verification app

Good morning,\nLast autumn, at the State of the Union address, I committed to making the online world safer for our children. We know that digital technology can give children incredible opportunities.
European Commission - European Commission

reshared this

in reply to European Commission

mastodon - Link to source

Anthropy

look I'm glad you guys considered privacy, that the app is opensource, etc, but to me it seems both unnecessary and dangerous, it's a whole new system that can fail and leak in its own ways, and this puts the burden of identifying on EVERYONE instead of the controls with parents that should be keeping an eye on their kids.

I don't have kids, and now every website is going to ask me personal details. No thanks. I guess I'll just selfhost everything then, just like the kids would?

in reply to Anthropy

glitchsoc - Link to source

Webber-e-bop

@anthropy
Better than the alternatives, investigated the code and documentation bit that it was in it's design safe, if everything follows the design, I found 2 points of failure that could store data without permission, the initial registration step, gotta trust them to not store the data if you don't use something like BankID, second one is the checker, gotta trust it to not store your key (even if it's anonymized, it's consistent). May have changed since I checked.

Should not store shit like the US companies, the anonymous ID database should not be storing any personal info from what I saw.

Big minus for relying on the Google Play API instead of the generic that works on GrapheneOS etc, at least when I last checked. It's reliant on a US company using that.

Not needed in the first place my opinion tho, hopefully it's just a non-corporate decentralized option IF a country decides to add those laws.

@Anthropy
in reply to European Commission

glitchsoc - Link to source

RawiWoof

Can you guarantee the age information doesn't get stored?
Can you guarantee the age information isn't tied to identity?
If you can't guarantee the first, then it's not equivalent to "showing the physical ID" (the physical ID isn't copied/written down in the process)
If you can't guarantee the second, then you're not doing age verification but ownership verification/identity verification which is a different task.

Moreover:
"It is for parents to raise their children."
Then make sure parents have safe environment to do so. This means not needing them to work 24/7, losing their mind to stress so they have time to do parenting which is in fact a full-time job that can't be offloaded to anything or anyone else.

Right now the only thing you and many other "Liberal" administrations are doing is an equivalent of "building a kid's corner in a minefield" or "marking a minefield 'Adults Only'".

reshared this

in reply to Rachel Lawson

mastodon - Link to source

Woozle Hypertwin

@rachel

That's easier said than done, and these are legitimate questions.

The point of asking them is to find out if the EU will stand behind commitments to those principles, guided by subject experts, not to find out if the current codebase just happens (in the best judgement of one possibly-inexpert person doing a quick review of a large amount of material).

@rawenwolf @EUCommission @Lazarou

@Lazarou Monkey Terror 🚀💙🌈 @European Commission @RawiWoof @Rachel Lawson
in reply to RawiWoof

mastodon - Link to source

Jordan Maris 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 #NAFO

@rawenwolf so I worked on the law for digital ID, and one of the elements in the law is enabling zero-knowledge proof. This means there should be a way for someone to attest to something about themselves with our actually having to reveal any of their personal information.

I'm wondering if this is the first actual implementation of that. If so it is extremely privacy-friendly: no personal data is shared.

@RawiWoof
in reply to Androcat

mastodon - Link to source

SIN001E/R-SINE | ΘΔ🦈 | 🏳‍⚧

@androcat @nasd1066 i think heavier weapons than fines are needed, or the fines need to be truly gargantuan; it has been repeatedly shown that USAmerican corporations will just calculate fines as part of running costs and won't care

i think platforms need to be threatened with being banned in the EU entirely unless they comply, otherwise they'll just keep finding loopholes or buying their way out of it

@Androcat @nasd1066
in reply to cgnarne

mastodon - Link to source

Diogo Constantino

@cgnarne they are already regulated (EPrivacy, Internet Society Services Directive, GPDPR, DMA, DSA, AI Act)... What's missing is way faster, more transparent action by the regulators, including the EU Commission.

The legislation that exists is nor perfect, and might need some improvements, but the Commission is actually proposing making it mostly worse, not better.

@EUCommission

@European Commission @cgnarne
in reply to Trash Panda

mastodon - Link to source

SummerOf68

@raccoon no, the EU app just reads the age information of your ID or passport. It's open source, any programmer can check it's realy this way. Maximal security, maximal privacy, maximal transparency!

Or you realy want your children to grow up watching hardcore rape scenes just clicking "are you 18 yo and older? Yes or no?" on portals, thinking this is normal?

This solution is a small compromise and doesn't hurt!

@Trash Panda
in reply to SummerOf68

pleroma - Link to source

Phantasm

@SummerOf68 @raccoon
>Or you realy want your children to grow up watching hardcore rape scenes just clicking "are you 18 yo and older? Yes or no?" on portals, thinking this is normal?

If your kid decides to do that and you didn't put any barriers for your kid to do that, it is only your fault and you can blame only yourself as a failed parent. Period.

@Trash Panda @SummerOf68
in reply to SummerOf68

pleroma - Link to source

Phantasm

@SummerOf68 @raccoon So you want to live in a world where the government takes care of your kids instead of you, while using invasive regulation that doesn't need to exist. Got it.

Do you know why nobody questions alcohol/tobacco regulation and kids? Because showing your ID to a shopkeeper doesn't tie your indentity to everything you do online. The shopkeeper won't even remember your identity in a few hours.

Also if you think children cannot buy alcohol and tobacco products, and aren't bypassing the laws, you probably in an alternate universe then.

@Trash Panda @SummerOf68
This entry was edited (4 weeks ago)
in reply to Phantasm

mastodon - Link to source

SummerOf68

@phnt @raccoon "taking care of kids" is not simular to youth protection.

Neither does the EU app control your identity anywhere in the internet.

The one who sells alcohol or tabaco to underaged riscs to be punished by law then.

Try to discuss with facts, not with emotions and desinformation next time!

Youth protection is a matter of the state since a long time, the members of the EU agreed to outsource parts of their sovereignty to the EU and to make EU law domestic law.

Get over it, it's up to the EU, it's how it works. EU is not just to redirect money from rich EU member states as subsidies to poor EU member states. You got something wrong then!

@Phantasm @Trash Panda
in reply to SummerOf68

pleroma - Link to source

Phantasm

@SummerOf68 @raccoon So I hit the nail on the head regarding the world you want to live in. Educating your child on what they should and shouldn't do on the Internet is something that should be left to the governments and their age verification checks apparently. Preventing your child from going on porn sites with something simple as DNS filters and educating them on what porn even is and why they shouldn't watch it is something the government should teach them instead by showing them a "you are not allowed to view this page" error page.

There's no point in continuing this further. iPad parenting.

@Trash Panda @SummerOf68
This entry was edited (4 weeks ago)
in reply to SummerOf68

mastodon - Link to source

Forse (he/him)

@SummerOf68 @phnt @raccoon

> Get over it, it's up to the EU, it's how it works

Love when the mask slips off.

You know how democracy works right?

People are expected to be able to criticize their government, whether it's the national or the supra national one.

We're creating a (more) authoritarian state because some parents need to shelter their kids from the world (I hope you don't let them watch the news).

Your kids want to watch rape porn?
You tell them it's really bad stuff, you ask them if they're sure and then you offer them to watch it with them or to discuss it later with them, you fucking coward.

@Phantasm @Trash Panda @SummerOf68
in reply to SummerOf68

sharkey - Link to source

Trash Panda

If in the future our governments decide we are living in a nazi regime (I am being hyperbolic for the purpose of an example here) are you gonna say "Get over it, it's how it works" or are you gonna do the right thing and try to fight against it the best way you can?

Because this is the beginning of surveillance state, and we are doing what we can against it, which is trying to get people to understand it.

in reply to SummerOf68

mitra - Link to source

Pawlicker

>kids can be controled whole day and don't look for ways to pass parents control.

Yeah, that's what religious types say too. Then you always hear about some scandal where some priest is banging hookers, or some Christian Rocker is gay and banging all the male groupies (including some underage), or the son of the founder of a "porn bad" spyware program (Covenant Eyes) is trying to meet minors (cops) online, or the Duggar Family.

in reply to SummerOf68

glitchsoc - Link to source

Li ~ Crystal System

@SummerOf68 @phnt@fluffytail.org @raccoon "nobody questions this" yes they do, you just dont interact with it.

"kids cannot buy alcohol or tabacco" im sure they never ever get around this ever

"looking for ways to bypass control" yeah i dont know how you see trying to control people all day and them resisting that as a sign you should be controlling them even harder,

how about fucking leaving them alone?

@Trash Panda @SummerOf68
in reply to SummerOf68

sharkey - Link to source

Trash Panda

I want parents to be parents and take care of what kids do.
It's up to parents to do the parenting and set parental control on their routers and devices.
It's not up to the EU.

And yeah it's open source, but we don't know if what they add stuff when they release the apk

If I was an alcohol drinker I wouldn't leave the alcohol cabinet open.
Same with my router, just like I can lock the alcohol cabinet I can put blocks on the router.

in reply to nicole mikołajczyk 🔜 linux app summit ➡️ piwo ➡️ gpn

mastodon - Link to source

SummerOf68

@mkljczk @raccoon the creators and actors are adults, they are old enough to decide they produce those stuff or to participate in those productions. Is not up to me or you to judge other adults about their jobs, kinks, lifestyle, orientation or what ever!
@nicole mikołajczyk 🔜 linux app summit ➡️ piwo ➡️ gpn @Trash Panda
in reply to SummerOf68

mastodon - Link to source

bria

@SummerOf68
My children doesn't have unlimited, unsupervised internet access, and are teach the risk that exist on it.

Because parents doesn't want to educate their children and prefer let them alone with screens all dayand us/chinese-based monopoly do their education, all people must now be tracked and identified ... with solutions which do absolutely nothing about the problem (which exist from _before_ internet, but doesn't seems at this age to track everyone)

Theses solutions will then be used then abused for absolutely all. Fiest porn, after social network. Then shopping, union and blog

@raccoon

@Trash Panda @SummerOf68
in reply to SummerOf68

mastodon - Link to source

2¢

@SummerOf68 @raccoon you raise your kids, I'll raise mine. Kids have been seeing ugly stuff forever. There is nothing delivered on a computer screen that will hurt a child. If they are mature enough to find it, they are mature enough to cope with it. If that terrifies you, supervise them at your expense, not mine.

Trashing anonymity online is the precursor to prosecuting thought crime.

@Trash Panda @SummerOf68
in reply to SummerOf68

mastodon - Link to source

Ben Todd

@SummerOf68

Hardcore rape scenes are not on legitimate sites that will comply with these age verification laws. Rape, death and violence videos are on illegitimate websites though, which won't comply with age verification. This law will TRY to keep kids away from moderated legitimate websites, into illegitimate websites with all the nastiest videos imaginable available.

@raccoon

@Trash Panda @SummerOf68
in reply to SummerOf68

akkoma - Link to source

Mae

@SummerOf68 @raccoon I watched porn at 15. It's normal. Porn has been a part of human society for thousands of years and as far as I am aware it is a healthy outlet for sexual desires, which kids will have. Obviously there are problems, but this is not a good solution.

None of this is to mention how I'm sure this will be used to restrict access to resources for LGBT kids and create frictions that platforms will use to make everything worse.

@Trash Panda @SummerOf68
in reply to SummerOf68

glitchsoc - Link to source

Li ~ Crystal System

@SummerOf68 @raccoon
ignoring the fact its just digital border control and can/will be used for regional lockout and DRM purposes:
tech.lgbt/@Li/1164193254438346… (as it already is in places that use it-)

but like it hurts people without ID .. as it is designed too do,

Li ~ Crystal System (@Li@tech.lgbt)

Content warning: identity verification / things i feel some missed
Li ~ Crystal System (LGBTQIA+ and Tech)
@Trash Panda @SummerOf68
in reply to European Commission

mastodon - Link to source

tastyraspberry

An age verification app's back end is arguably just as important as the front end. No word on that yet.

And it goes without saying that nothing apart from the boolean "is user older than x" should be shared with a platform.

Curious to see how this plays out. Platforms wanting age verification shouldn't have to rely on infamous contractors that leak data.

But everyone is aware of the slippery slope: IDing everyone on the web isn't something we'll let happen without pushback.

@EUCommission

@European Commission
This entry was edited (4 weeks ago)
in reply to European Commission

glitchsoc - Link to source

Utopiah (Fabien Benetou)

can't wait to try on my PostMarketOS phone, running just Linux (no Android, no iOS) and if genuinely it "✅️ Works on any device".

I honestly hope so but until I can attest it I'll remain skeptical of that claim.

Also it's not open source until we can see the code. Making a statement without a link to the repository with the license is simply wrong.

This entry was edited (4 weeks ago)
in reply to European Commission

mastodon - Link to source

Veza85UE

Dear @HennaVirkkunen , I would like to report a 76-year-old man who should obviously not be left unsupervised on the internet and then spread Russian slopaganda to our entire Union. Can we adjust the app settings for this demographic?

Thanks.

mastodon.social/@eunews/116404…

European News 🇪🇺

2026-04-14 19:23:36

mastodon - Link to source

Polish opposition admits leader wrong to suggest Hungarian PM-elect killed puppy in microwave

Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of Poland’s opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, today suggested that Hungary’s incoming prime minister, Péter Magyar, killed a puppy in a microwave, repeating a false and widely debunked online claim.

notesfrompoland.com/2026/04/14…


Polish opposition admits leader wrong to suggest Hungarian PM-elect killed puppy in microwave

Daniel Tilles (Notes From Poland)

@Henna Virkkunen
This entry was edited (4 weeks ago)
in reply to European Commission

mastodon - Link to source

s1m0n4

For the record I never installed the Covid app you talk about in the link.

And I am also a parent. There's a simple way not to have kids on social media: give them a dumbphone instead of a smartphone.
And set up parental control on their devices.

If you wanted to do something meaningful you should have regulated all services and telecom providers to include advanced rules for parental controls.

#AgeVerification #EUPol

#eupol #AgeVerification
in reply to European Commission

mastodon - Link to source

Ray McCarthy

No, it's not just like shops.

1. The shop keeps no record.
2. The shop only asks those that look young,

On the internet, any age verification results in everyone's details being stored and most of the companies are not trustworthy. The info will be sold or leaked.
It will be used for surveillance.

"It is for parents to raise their children. Not platforms."
So do no age verification. OTOH hold web sites and apps to the same standards as TV, Radio, billboards & print.
Fine them!

in reply to European Commission

mastodon - Link to source

Marko

Nicht schon wieder die Kinder bei eurem Mist vorschieben. Ich kann das langsam nicht mehr hören.

Haltet ihr uns als Eltern nicht für mündig genug? Aber kann es sein, dass es euch vielleicht gar nicht darum geht, sondern nur um mehr Kontrolle?

Wie komme ich jetzt bloß auf solche Gedanken? 🤔

Bin auch sehr gespannt, wie die App dann so auf einem Linux-Phone läuft. Geht ja angeblich überall. 🐧 📱

Unknown parent

mastodon - Link to source

SummerOf68

@aral @raccoon ouch! You have a PIN for your E-ID. It's not enough to put your card on your RFID - Reader. How can the bank know it's you drawing cash on an ATM?

If you let your bank card lying around with your PIN, that's stupid, cause you shouldn't wonder of your bank account is empty then!

With an E-ID AND your PIN someone can do a lot of crazy stuff. Like doing a tax return for you or report you falsly unemployed!

@Aral Balkan @Trash Panda
in reply to European Commission

mastodon - Link to source

Jeremiah Lee

Being able to authoritatively prove adulthood without revealing any other personal information is a useful capability. However, age-gating the Internet is a terrible idea that risks accelerating surveillance and removing the human right to privacy in digital spaces.

A better solution: fund education of parents on digital risks and tools, education of children on digital literacy, and promotion of on-device parental controls. The obligation here is the guardian’s.

in reply to European Commission

mastodon - Link to source

Eggs now in different baskets.

From the EU statement "Social media platforms offer highly addictive designs – infinite scrolling that is feeding the addiction, short videos snap attention span, highly personalised content, targeted. "

So fix the bloody platforms that harm our children first.

Making adults compensate for a lack of regulation by the EU of the digital market place by forcing them to constantly ID themselves is addressing the wrong set of issues.

#digitalsovereignty #surveillance #chatcontrol

#chatcontrol #surveillance #digitalsovereignty
in reply to European Commission

mastodon - Link to source

⁂ Jnk ∞ 📎

"It is for parents to raise their children. Not platforms."

Then don't make a damn app and leave parents and kids alone. It is that simple. You could instead:
- Raise awareness of privacy and security issues for kids (and users, in general).
- Educate kids in schools about responsable use of electronic devices.
- Just ban roblox and other pedo-infested platforms. Seriously. Predators don't hide in signal DMs precisely.
- Start reducing dependency on foreign private digital platforms that ARE out of your control and don't care about sanctions.
- Invest more resources on secure and free software that you can actually control.

#ageverification #FOSSwashing

#AgeVerification #fosswashing
in reply to European Commission

mastodon - Link to source

dunklecat

Today's not 1st of April. You're trying to enter our chats, profiles and track us online, make the web worse and more dangerous that it needs to be. You want control without a real reason apart capitalism and power.

Tell us why you did this. Tell us why we need it. Tell us it's the best you can think of. Tell us the science that can backup this choice. Show us scientific data that proves that this solution is the better one. 1/X

This entry was edited (4 weeks ago)
in reply to European Commission

sharkey - Link to source

https://transfem.social/users/9qupcrqvijby0beb

So to everyone replying here
I know this just asks for mockery and outrage. Rightly so. But be sure noone with actual weight will read any comments you leave here You can ask europe direct for clarification about any concerns you might have here: european-union.europa.eu/conta…, or check for other forms of contact here: commission.europa.eu/about/con…
If you want to complain it then do as I did, and at least direct your complaints somewhere they will possibly be read.

Write to us | European Union

Send us your enquiry about the EU using this online form. You can write in any official EU language, or Ukrainian or Russian.
European Union
in reply to European Commission

friendica - Link to source

veroandi_br

@European Commission

Because we will have zero tolerance for companies that do not respect our children's rights. And this is why we are moving ahead with full speed and determination on the enforcement of our European rules. We are holding accountable those online platforms that do not protect our kids enough.

🤣 really? This is ridiculous. You don't hold platforms accountable for the bad they do to society. You have a lot of tolerance for companies that does not respect children's and adults human rights. Everybody knows that all this system was not developed to "help children" but to track citizens in future updates.

@European Commission
in reply to European Commission

mastodon - Link to source

Frisk

Because no link to the application was posted, I assume its this github.com/eu-digital-identity… & github.com/eu-digital-identity….

Either way, Age Verification on the Internet as a concept is dangerous and many scientists have warned of it already in an open-letter.

We don't need Age Verification technology to protect children, we need regulation of big tech to reign in on maliciously created algorithms and practices.

And don't weaken the protections we already have with Omnibus.

This time around it's an L for you, EU.

GitHub - eu-digital-identity-wallet/av-app-android-wallet-ui

Contribute to eu-digital-identity-wallet/av-app-android-wallet-ui development by creating an account on GitHub.
GitHub
This entry was edited (4 weeks ago)
in reply to European Commission

glitchsoc - Link to source

Penguin Rebellion

❓ "Highest privacy standards in the world"

You have merely claimed to have done threat modeling in the course of an "internal design process". To this day, you haven't published any related documents. "Trust me" and vague assertions don't prove anything.

What is currently published, though, rather diminishes trust, like your "important note" on PINs:

»To enhance security, it is strongly recommended that the allowed PINs raise the overall security level. Sequential or easily guessable patterns (such as "135246 or "147258") should not be permitted. Additionally, it is advisable to check against a list of the most commonly used or "pwned" PINs to prevent users from choosing weak credentials.«

❌ "Works on any device"

"To enable online age verification, the User is required to install an AV app on their mobile device."

You have openly stated in 2025 already (and bluntly closed the related issue on GitHub as "completed"): "The project is currently focused on mobile platforms, specifically Android and iOS, as these cover the vast majority of end users and use cases. Desktop support is not in the current scope of the project, but we will take this suggestion on board."

No desktops, no de-googled phones.

That is: you are lying straight to our faces, here.

❓ "Easy to use"

Again, from your current "important note":

»This white-label application is a reference implementation of the Age Verification solution that should be customised before publishing it. The current version is not feature complete and will require further integration work before production deployment.«

How is ease of use, let alone accessibility, tested for a "white-label application [sic]" that isn't even customized?

How is there no desktop client? · Issue #29 · eu-digital-identity-wallet/av-app-android-wallet-ui

The EU Digital Identity Wallet will be: made available to anyone who wants to use it: Any EU citizen, resident, and business in the EU who would like to make use of the EU Digital Identity will be ...
TheJackiMonster (GitHub)
This entry was edited (4 weeks ago)
in reply to European Commission

mastodon - Link to source

jack

Dear #Zensursula,

fixed that for you:

"It is for parents to raise their children. Not the total #surveillance state. But since we don't care for children and use this sentimental bs only as cover up for our totalitarian dream:

The European #BigBrother App is ready.

It will allow us to follow your every step. Every move you make. We'll be watching you.

Just like China asks for proof of good behavior for people trying to access services like finance, travel or entertainment."

#surveillance #BigBrother #zensursula
This entry was edited (4 weeks ago)
in reply to European Commission

mastodon - Link to source

hambier

#Linux support? Where is the actual link to the source code repository?

That being said, age verification is a terrible idea and I'm saying that as a parent of kids in the age bracket that you are so worried about! Regulate the huge social media corporations properly instead of acting like they're only problematic for minors.

I fear you'll just end up killing Linux on the desktop or smaller online forums or similar.

#Linux
in reply to European Commission

mastodon - Link to source

DazRunner

"They are personal digital wallets that allow citizens to digitally identify themselves, store and manage identity data and official documents in electronic format. These documents may include a driving licence, medical prescriptions or education qualifications. Thanks to the wallet, all citizens will be able to prove their identity where necessary to access services online, to share digital documents, or simply to prove a specific personal attribute" 🤨🤐🫣

digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/…

Q&A Digital Identity

The EU Digital Identity Wallet allows individuals to prove their identity when accessing digital services, store important documents, and securely share data while maintaining privacy. Find out more details about it in this FAQ.
digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu
in reply to Valerie Aurora 🇺🇦

mastodon - Link to source

Herisson Rose

@vaurora Wrong. It is for governments to *regulate* these PLATFORMS.

Ban opaque algorithms designed to addict users and manipulate their behaviour, spending and beliefs thru misleading content and dark patterns.

These harm *all users* and exist only to enrich the owners of said platforms at the detriment of everyone else.

Fining the companies is not enough.. Its seen as "the cost of doing business" - they merely pay (or refuse to) and change zero harmful behaviours.

@Valerie Aurora 🇺🇦
in reply to Herisson Rose

mastodon - Link to source

Herisson Rose

@vaurora Claiming to "protect children" is not just functionally useless / cowardly excuse to avoid meaningful change:

- Its the companies's *OWN POLICY* in disguise

- A vehicle to steamroll remaining privacy rights, because these corps despise it, and seek to harvest *more* data on us.

- Forcing everyone to give up their identity is extremely lucrative!

- It opens the door to *more* harmful and extractive corporate behaviours

- All the risks, and dangers of course, fall on us

@Valerie Aurora 🇺🇦
in reply to Herisson Rose

mastodon - Link to source

Herisson Rose

@vaurora Helpful reminder that children are *also people*

They have human rights, including the rights to privacy, self-expression, and education.

Free and anonymous Internet access is sometimes their only social outlet, or access to comprehensive, unbiased information not filtered by an abusive, controlling or extremist parent.

Their children should not suffer, but nor should they be walled off from the greatest free and open source of information the world has ever known.

@Valerie Aurora 🇺🇦
in reply to European Commission

mastodon - Link to source

adlerweb // BitBastelei

So if this is the only planned implementation: if a European citizen wants to use an European website to communicate with other European people, he/she needs to buy special devices, involve an US operator for verification and there are no local, sovereign options like using a id card and NFC, relying on the cards cryptographic security rather than regulating the communication devices?
in reply to European Commission

glitchsoc - Link to source

Loy Hena

...but it only works with american proprietary phones so since I have an European phone I guess I am considered underage now.

What a way to throw privacy out the window. To exclude yet again children and teenagers from society, until the day we throw them inside without warning. To throw the one and best rule of the internet that gave us true liberty and made it great: never give your identity. And to help pirates have more data to steal (we know how government protects our data, we are used to being defenceless against it).

But wait its open-source !

in reply to European Commission

mastodon - Link to source

❄️SnowyIn🇨🇦❄️

Age verification is not a "good idea" for anyone.
It doesn't stop youngsters from accessing ' illegal" sites, they will find a way around it, but what these laws do accomplish is:

- Everyone, will have to upload their official ID on the internet, thus exposing all *your* personal information to hackers via data leaks.

*Your ID* can then be used to do all sorts of fraudulent activities, and *you* will be responsible for untangling the mess -- it will take years , plus you will be forced to pay out all legal fees, not the website or the government.

Additionally, because the government can monitor every keystroke from your computer or other device, you could be penalized for your opinion....not to mention I don't want to live in a dictatorship like North Korea, China, or Russia --censorship is terrible for democracy.

-kids will learn how to become 'hackers' in order to circumvent law so, I ask you how does this improve the life of children or yourself?

in reply to European Commission

mastodon - Link to source

Jörn Franke

Why is it not open source? You published the interoperable Europe Act. You published an open source strategy and have an open source programme office. Experts could easily verify it, it would be easy integrate-able in European software and help non-European countries to establish a secure, privacy-preserving, non-tracking own app.

@EC_OSPO

@Open Source Programme Office
This entry was edited (4 weeks ago)
in reply to European Commission

mastodon - Link to source

dcre

Do you understand what you are doing? What freedoms you are quietly eroding? What for?

There is nothing more private then just having NO IDAV in place.
I dont trust you to keep my data safe just as I dont trust anyone.

It is obvious you want to protect children from harm, but what is verification of age now, is soon gonna be "passport please", and then you get arrested for a opinion on the internet.

Welcome to North Korea.

in reply to European Commission

mastodon - Link to source

Eggs now in different baskets.

Please stop publishing lies about this.

The code WILL NOT run on ANY device.

My primary phone is a recently purchased 4G dumb phone with no internet capabilities and RAM measured in megabytes.

It is a device.

It does what I need it to do and I expect to get ten years worth of use out of it.

I cannot install any apps on it.

Who will make this code run on my dumb phone so that I am not forced to buy a smartphone with an OS developed in the US?

#digitalsovereignty

#digitalsovereignty
This entry was edited (4 weeks ago)
in reply to European Commission

mastodon - Link to source

Esther Payne

Okay I'll bite, in the UK (Scotland) even in my mind thirties I fell foul of the challenge 25 laws. So I carried the easier to replace ID which I had to carry when driving. My driving license.

I'd often get challenged. Which meant I had to show my ID with my home address to a total stranger. When the check out guy was a man it felt unsafe

As someone who's been stalked, it's not safe showing that information to a complete stranger. Let alone an untrustworthy org like Europol.

reshared this

in reply to Esther Payne

mastodon - Link to source

Natanox 🇺🇦🇵🇸

@onepict The github criticism is legit, however to my knowledge the EU system uses Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP) for things like age verification (meaning platforms only get a "true/false" answer for the specific question with no third party even seeing the question asked). Also the apps are really available anywhere it seems. So far I haven't heard raging opposition about the EU system in my hackspace either.

I'm carefully optimistic about this, as long as they keep the ZKP system.

@Esther Payne
in reply to Natanox 🇺🇦🇵🇸

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

Plan-A̵̛͈̬̥̿͋̓͛̕

@Natanox 🇺🇦🇵🇸 @Esther Payne @European Commission There will be 3rd parties enforcing your ID even soon once this gets trough, same as the Colorado law on even Linux. From that point they can keep invent adaptive laws and use 3rd parties of their own to enforce more digital and real life contra privacy tools.
@European Commission @Esther Payne @Natanox 🇺🇦🇵🇸
in reply to Plan-A̵̛͈̬̥̿͋̓͛̕

mastodon - Link to source

Natanox 🇺🇦🇵🇸

@zer0unplanned @onepict For EU that's unlikely, it's in the interest of both the EU governments as well as citizens for the official eID system to be used. Places like US, UK and Australia already do the other nonsense, but they know those other systems are garbage and constantly circumvented. It's more likely they might be interested in the EU app, perhaps to fork it.

Likewise it's unlikely the EU is interested in the nonsense OS laws the US is dabbling in for multiple reasons.

@Esther Payne @Plan-A̵̛͈̬̥̿͋̓͛̕
in reply to European Commission

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

Plan-A̵̛͈̬̥̿͋̓͛̕

 — (0.0.0.0)

@European Commission

It is for parents to raise their children. Not platforms.

Are you our children parents? This is taken out of context for PR reasons and it's the big tech industries or corporations that you name 'Platforms' that must take their responsibility, not the whole population even the ones without children.
This is discriminating and fascist style of merge the state with big Corps made by your own.

A crowd control system more in Big Brother Society , in fact Privacy is a Human Right!!!! So those platforms you say have to respect that and not make new rules and laws by those that were not elected.

I live in this Country but people from another Country make the laws as long they elected??? and elected by who? Do 1 of those a general election over whole EU as majority? No

@European Commission
in reply to European Commission

mastodon - Link to source

The_Universality

If "it is for the parents to raise their children", why do we have an ID verification app?

It is open-source, but is the back-end?

Highest privacy standard?
With #digitalomnibus I doubt that.

Just do not interfere with the privacy and usability of internet due to incompetent parents.

Also, what use doea ID verification app have when parents can it so their child can access the net?
Or the children using it without the knowledge of their parent?

#digitalomnibus
in reply to Nicole Parsons

mastodon - Link to source

TC Won't Give In To Lies

@Npars01
I've gotta disagree

Sure, age verification can be implemented terribly. It can empower fascist techbros.

But as a concept, it is a critical part of public safety when done right.

Think of IRL, where thousands of foods, medicines, products and services have 3 layers of regulation - some things are banned, some are age gated and some are allowed but regulated.

We need to accept that reality and find a way to safely implement in the online world.

@Nicole Parsons
in reply to TC Won't Give In To Lies

mastodon - Link to source

Cassandrich

@TCatInReality @Npars01 There is fundamentally no way to implement it not-badly. "Age verification" inherently entails identity verification. The claims that it doesn't are a lie. And it also inherently involves infringement of children's rights to knowledge, community, and participation in society.
@Nicole Parsons @TC Won't Give In To Lies
in reply to Cassandrich

mastodon - Link to source

Taran Rampersad

@dalias @TCatInReality @Npars01 Good arguments for and against...

And...

Since there are privacy concerns either way...

This is only a debate because there is a fight to a right to have access to extractive online platforms...

Why use them at all? 🙃

There was life and messy childhood long before the techbros.

@Cassandrich @Nicole Parsons @TC Won't Give In To Lies
in reply to Taran Rampersad

mastodon - Link to source

Cassandrich

@knowprose @TCatInReality @Npars01 No, there are not "good arguments for". The argument for is that they want to let the abusive tech bros keep operating harmful platforms and wash their hands of liability for harm to children.

But that's bullshit to begin with, because the vast majority of the harm to children that comes from these platforms doesn't even depend on children using them! It comes from their parents or their parents' generation using them.

Denying them vaccines, robbing them of a livable world because they've been brainwashed into right wing cults, etc.

@Nicole Parsons @TC Won't Give In To Lies @Taran Rampersad
in reply to Cassandrich

mastodon - Link to source

Cassandrich

This is not "a fight to a right to have access to extractive online platforms". Nobody wants that.

It's a fight for any access at all, to any sort of community. These laws are pushed by the extractive platforms. They're not going to be like "oh, ok, you kids can just go to Mastodon". That would destroy their grip on the market extending into the next generations.

Instead they're like "Join Facebook Kids, certified safe with age verification where you can't meet scary strangers who might tell you it's ok to be queer. Oh, Mastodon has those, so it's illegal now unless it submits to our age verification mandates."

This entry was edited (3 weeks ago)
in reply to Cassandrich

mastodon - Link to source

Taran Rampersad

@dalias @TCatInReality @Npars01
I am in agreement about the proxy harm.

Yet my point remains. Everyone seems to assume the platforms must be used.

If people don't use the platforms, this becomes a non-issue.

Consent begins with the decision to use the platform... or not.

If anything, raising the bar for people to make that choice is good.

knowprose.com/2026/03/the-pudd…

The Puddle We Keep Choosing

Many people may think that the social media case related to addiction is a win.They are not wrong.They are just not completely right. We could say that we’re victims of social media empires.We could clench our fists and shake them at the sky.
KnowProSE.com
@Cassandrich @Nicole Parsons @TC Won't Give In To Lies
in reply to Taran Rampersad

mastodon - Link to source

Cassandrich

@knowprose @TCatInReality @Npars01 Any argument that starts with "if everyone would just..." is a non-starter. The only way you can get everyone not to use the abusive extractive platforms is to ban them.

And they are not going to stop trying to take away children's rights to community and acceptance and knowledge even if you do try to do that.

@Nicole Parsons @TC Won't Give In To Lies @Taran Rampersad
in reply to Cassandrich

mastodon - Link to source

Taran Rampersad

@dalias @TCatInReality @Npars01 1/ effectively, that is what the law is doing if you really care about privacy.

I cannot find it in myself to argue that children should harm themselves in any way.

And for or against age verification seems the wrong thing to be arguing because of that.

We have enough societal problems with adults using the platform, don't we?

Attempting to raise the stakes for self-interest is the only thing a government can appear to do.

@Cassandrich @Nicole Parsons @TC Won't Give In To Lies
in reply to Taran Rampersad

mastodon - Link to source

Cassandrich

@knowprose @TCatInReality @Npars01 For fucks sake do you not care? This law will kill queer kids. This law will condemn NNT kids to be treated like there's something wrong with them and they have no hope of having meaningful social relationships. This law will make our community here an illegal resistance.

And here you are being like "I don't care I don't think you should fight it because Facebook is bad."

It's Facebook who wants this law.

@Nicole Parsons @TC Won't Give In To Lies @Taran Rampersad
in reply to Cassandrich

mastodon - Link to source

Taran Rampersad

@dalias @TCatInReality @Npars01 the point is that I do care.

I care enough to suggest that no one should be using the platforms.

And i am doing it on... Mastodon.

Caring is not my issue. I've written a lot about centralized social media.

I care enough to say that this becomes a moot point if people stop acting like the platforms involved need to be defended when they are harmful in and of themselves.

Consent begins with use.

@Cassandrich @Nicole Parsons @TC Won't Give In To Lies
in reply to Taran Rampersad

mastodon - Link to source

Cassandrich

@knowprose @TCatInReality @Npars01 If you care that no one uses their platforms you would not arguing that we should allow extreme harm to people we care about to give them a get-out-of-jail-free card.

The reason Facebook wants this law is so they can keep doing the harms they're doing with impunity by disclaiming liability for the harms to children.

@Nicole Parsons @TC Won't Give In To Lies @Taran Rampersad
in reply to Taran Rampersad

mastodon - Link to source

Taran Rampersad

@dalias @TCatInReality @Npars01 2/ all this time, energy, outrage and passion could be doing something else if people looked to their own self-interest.

There are so many reasons not to use the platforms in the first place. At the base of it, extraction.

Meanwhile, in the US, FISA just got extended for 10 days. The Trump administration wants 18 months.

And because of where the companies are, it impacts all those online platforms.

I don't agree with age verification because of

@Cassandrich @Nicole Parsons @TC Won't Give In To Lies
in reply to Taran Rampersad

mastodon - Link to source

Taran Rampersad

@dalias @TCatInReality @Npars01 3/ the privacy issues, and I don't agree with using those platforms for privacy issues and the attention, intention and influence economies that extract (privacy).

So... why not just not worry about age verification if you ain't gonna use it, and explain the privacy issues to the kids?

They're smarter than most adults about this stuff.

@Cassandrich @Nicole Parsons @TC Won't Give In To Lies
in reply to Taran Rampersad

mastodon - Link to source

Cassandrich

@knowprose @TCatInReality @Npars01 Not going to use what? The internet? 🤦 🤡

"Why don't you worry about this other thing instead?" is always an invalid argument. We can work on both. We can let the people who deeply care about and understand particular issues put that care and understanding to use.

A better question is this: Why do you think spending your time arguing on the internet to disempower people fighting back is appropriate?

@Nicole Parsons @TC Won't Give In To Lies @Taran Rampersad
in reply to Taran Rampersad

mastodon - Link to source

Cassandrich

@knowprose @TCatInReality @Npars01 You're the one who chose to use my activist reply into the EU Commission thread as an invitation to inject your anti-children's-rights propaganda up in my @'s.

I didn't even realize you were following me and that's how you got into the conversation, but now my consent for you to do that is revoked. You're blocked.

@Nicole Parsons @TC Won't Give In To Lies @Taran Rampersad
in reply to TC Won't Give In To Lies

mastodon - Link to source

Nicole Parsons

@TCatInReality
Fair points.

The problem is that Meta, Google, Oracle, Amazon, and Palantir are squabbling to privatize age verification in American hands.

Does anyone trust these Trump donors with confidential information?

As the fiasco with Musk's DOGE proved, these folks don't adopt even rudimentary precautions to prevent data theft.

npr.org/2026/01/23/nx-s1-56841…

thehill.com/opinion/white-hous…

brookings.edu/articles/privacy…

The state surveillance platform these dopes want is international.

Privacy under siege: DOGE’s one big, beautiful database | Brookings

Stephanie Pell details reporting on efforts to consolidate government data, how this implicates the Privacy Act, and its potential uses.
Stephanie K. Pell, Josie Stewart, Brooke Tanner (Brookings)
@TC Won't Give In To Lies
in reply to Nicole Parsons

mastodon - Link to source

Cassandrich

@Npars01 @TCatInReality Privatization makes it *even worse* (fascist US corporations getting access to lucrative data including data on children, whom they will use it to harm!), but it's fundamentally bad regardless of whether it's a private party or government doing the" verification".

It is particularly an assault on queer and non-neurotypical children who likely to not have community or acceptance locally in-person and who are stripped or any hope of having community or acceptance when you age-gate the spaces on the internet where they can find it.

@Nicole Parsons @TC Won't Give In To Lies
in reply to European Commission

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

Plan-A̵̛͈̬̥̿͋̓͛̕

 — (0.0.0.0)

@European Commission You are endangering people by putting every ones life in a database and we all know one day it will be breached even with your military standards of security. So, I wonder what are you doing??? You care not for the Children that is bs, you never cared about them I remember pointing them to my local authority with no results. You just want control about our every step in life and more to come soon.

Remember one thing, on the internet .. no system is safe.
And you ask us to put ourselves vulnerable. On top spit on Privacy laws and as such human rights law.

@European Commission
in reply to Eugen Rochko

mastodon - Link to source

☁️ Adrenalinda ,,,

@Gargron with all due respect , it's easy to argue that from a purely observant perspective.

However there is clear evidence, that despite doing their best (and also not, as is always the case) parents are not able to intervene as much as they d wish,even if they know of and have all the tools to, bc there is a clear addiction-pattern instigated by cooperations.

This certainly is where responsible politics come into play.

I understand the objections,but it's not on the parents.
@EUCommission

@Eugen Rochko @European Commission
in reply to Plan-A̵̛͈̬̥̿͋̓͛̕

mastodon - Link to source

⁂ Fish Id Wardrobe

@zer0unplanned please take a deep breath, or at least use some punctuation. yes, this is all bad, but it's not all the *same* bad. the california law just lets you assert your age when you create an account, for example; no checking. that's just pointless, but right now i could use some pointless.
@Plan-A̵̛͈̬̥̿͋̓͛̕
in reply to ⁂ Fish Id Wardrobe

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

Plan-A̵̛͈̬̥̿͋̓͛̕

 — (0.0.0.0)
@⁂ Fish Id Wardrobe @European Commission I still obstruct the image of giving parents control over their children as there are other way's instead of crowd control everyone.
I can't do it with that and wont trust them, all is in databases which risk more damage than expected. This wont stop pedophiles! I reported many of them years ago as an Op we had like hundreds/day on twitter all passed to local authorities and Twitter none of it had effect !!! It is the authorities that have to do their jobs right and the big corporations not the parents!
@European Commission @⁂ Fish Id Wardrobe
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