Critics accuse embattled prime minister of rushing plans that will have consequences for surveillance and privacy
Apple now requires age verification for App Store use in Texas as state law SB 2420 takes effect, impacting new accounts and app access.
After public outrage, California lawmakers are moving closer to exempting open-source operating systems from the sweeping age-bracketing regime mandated by last year’s Digital Age Assurance Act (AB 1043). Nonetheless, the current bill still jeopardizes internet users’ speech, privacy, and security. While the open source exemption, if passed, would improve the law, the remaining amendments…
A popular virtual therapy platform is telling providers and patients they'll have to do facial scanning soon, forcing some to choose between handing over their data and continuing care.
System76 CEO Carl Richell says open-source software secured exemptions from age verification requirements in Colorado and California, raising new questions about Linux, privacy, and regulation.
Google’s new AI glasses revive a category Meta already dominates. This guide explains the tech, incentives, privacy stakes, and why face computers persist.
Today's links There's no such thing as "age verification": The foreseeable and foreseen consequences of "something must be done"/"there, I've done something." Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. Object permanence: Apple Stores exist; Responsible spam; Australia loves Hollywood('s copyright); TCP over Syrian donkey; Icelandic Pirate get funded; Algorithmic cruelty; Trump loves data brokers;…
Following criticism, lawmakers have narrowed the GUARD Act, a bill aimed at restricting minors’ access to certain AI systems. The earlier version could have applied broadly to nearly every AI-powered chatbot or search tool. The amended bill focuses more narrowly on so-called “AI companions”—conversational systems designed to simulate emotional or interpersonal interactions with users. That change…
New age-verification laws are running into an old problem: children are clever and adapt.
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The Internet: How does it work? It's not a question that the Utah state government bothered to ask before attempting to enact its Online Age Verification law (Bill 73). Not asking this question could prove to be a massive digital autonomy and privacy issue for all of us, down the line. — Read the rest
The post This Utah law is a risk to everyone's digital liberty appeared first on Boing Boing.
An article dispelling myths about W Social, the new European platform that aims to rival X: it is a fork of Bluesky that shares many similarities with Eurosky and requires government ID to sign up.
Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast about the latest news in online speech, from Mike Masnick and Everything in Moderation‘s Ben Whitelaw. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Pocket Casts, YouTube, or your podcast app of choice — or go straight to the RSS feed. In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online […]
Utah has a long track record of short-sighted internet policymaking, but the latest example really does take things to a new level of stupid. As of yesterday, Utah’s “Online Age Verification Amendments” bill, Senate Bill 73, has taken effect. It is a piece of legislation that effectively tries to ban VPNs as a desperate attempt […]
Following the latest iOS update which requires UK mobile Apple device users to verify their ages, Pornhub’s parent company Aylo is lifting its ban—but only for people using iPads and iPhones.
A new federal bill proposes OS-level age verification across the U.S., aiming to enhance online safety and protect minors from inappropriate content.
The post Federal Bill Would Bring OS-Level Age Verification to the Entire U.S. appeared first on Linux Today.
At least Ben Shapiro and Roblox are having a bad time too
Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast about the latest news in online speech, from Mike Masnick and Everything in Moderation‘s Ben Whitelaw. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Pocket Casts, YouTube, or your podcast app of choice — or go straight to the RSS feed. In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online […]
Lawmakers in Congress are moving quickly on the GUARD Act, an age-gating bill restricting minors’ access to a wide range of online tools, with a key vote expected this week. The proposal is framed as a response to alarming cases involving “AI companions” and vulnerable young users. But the text of the bill goes much further, and could […]
Discover why Solus has no plans to implement age verification. Explore the implications for users and the broader industry in our detailed analysis.
The post Solus Says It Has No Plans to Implement Age Verification appeared first on Linux Today.
Let us see what is happening around the world wide web with today's collection of Pook-Emu Bee links. 1. Brussels launched an age checking app. Hackers say it takes 2 minutes to break it. (Emile Marzolf, Ellen O'Regan, and Eliza Gkritsi for Politico EU. April 17, 2026.) Maybe the EU just wants everyone to be...
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Concerns over hacking risks and easy workarounds emerge just days after the system was declared “technically ready.”
I think it’s important to understand that, despite claims to the contrary, age verification is, inherently, a right-wing effort. While it’s currently true that age verification laws are being supported globally by those on the political right and left, they started as very much a right wing effort to suppress disliked speech by claiming it […]
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Since there's a lot of discussion about age verification on various platforms -- like Ubuntu's Canonical^1 I just wanted to highlight one that is the least lame and the most privacy-preserving in existence currently: Mobile Driver’s license (mDL) aka ISO/IEC 18013-5.^2
Just don't get misled by its rather confusing name and overwhelming amount of references standards, you can dig through…
In early March, 438 security and privacy researchers from 32 countries signed a massive open letter warning that age verification mandates for the internet are technically impossible to get right, easy to circumvent, a serious threat to privacy and security, and likely to cause more harm than good. While many folks (including us at Techdirt) […]
I left a job in March 2025 after years of engineering and researching privacy and identity at the forefront of the KYC industry, more specifically with biometrics and liveness identification. KYC is the infrastructure built to verify who someone is before granting them access to a transaction. That same year, I was invited by the Ministry of Justice (by the secretary of Digital Rights, Dr. Lilian…
“I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to this bill's intrusion into the personal privacy of Wisconsin residents,” Governor Tony Evers wrote.
Delve into the Nanny State's surprising demand for Linux to verify kids' IDs before booting. Learn how this impacts privacy and security in the digital age.
The post Nanny State Discovers Linux, Demands It Check Kids’ IDs Before Booting appeared first on Linux Today.
A game developer working with the Roblox platform has said that child protection measures, including age verification, are not convincing enough, writes the BBC. Roblox is the most popular video game platform in the UK among children aged eight to 12. Speaking to BBC Radio 5, the game developer, who wished to remain anonymous, said […]
The post Children and Roblox: parents should monitor their…
Although it may be hard to believe for current generations, there was a time when the Internet and the World Wide Web were not as integrated into society as it …read more
When Rep. Leigh Finke spoke last month before the Minnesota House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee to testify against HF1434, a broad-sweeping proposal to age-gate the internet, she began with something disarming: agreement. “I want to support the basic part of this,” she said, the shared goal of protecting young people online. Because that is not controversial: everyone […]
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