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I'm reluctant to verify my identity or age for any online services

neilzone.co.uk

11–20 of 645 posts

Re: I'm reluctant to verify my identity or age for any online services

#11
post #7

There are some services where it makes sense. E.g., submitting taxes with the government, logging into the banking website. Apart from that kind of service, yes I don't think I would want my identity or age verified on more or less any website.

the catch is that for both cases same backend provider is most likely used. persona for example. and you have no choice who will id your face.

Re: I'm reluctant to verify my identity or age for any online services

#12
Honestly seems like the moral panic of the day. I was just reading about some “red vs blue” school meme in London which led to a lot of hand wringing and parents keeping their kids at home. The kicker? There was no actually school battles, it was a viral meme (mostly consumed by adults) and the kids just thought it was a joke.

Pretty much sums up all modern discourse in banning social media and doing age checks. When I was growing up it was satanic symbols in the music I listened to.

I guess - wtf is wrong with adults? Why do they feel compelled to control the younger generation?

Re: I'm reluctant to verify my identity or age for any online services

#15
post #4

This is exactly what I am feeling (the title, didn't read). I can't see why I would give a copy of my official id card or a picture of my face to a basic service on the Internet. Seriously ? They do not deserve it. Even my phone number is too much but well Google has it now.

Luckily it’s already possible to verify your age without actually giving out any data like your birthdate

Re: I'm reluctant to verify my identity or age for any online services

#16
Enforcing laws against porn companies distributing porn to minors seems reasonable. It's already illegal many places, such as the US. It is then their responsibility to gate by age. It has always worked this way for liquor stores or basically anything else age-gated, including some online services like poker. If you dont want to provide age verification you don't have to.

Re: I'm reluctant to verify my identity or age for any online services

#17
post #15
post #4

This is exactly what I am feeling (the title, didn't read). I can't see why I would give a copy of my official id card or a picture of my face to a basic service on the Internet. Seriously ? They do not deserve it. Even my phone number is too much but well Google has it now.

Luckily it’s already possible to verify your age without actually giving out any data like your birthdate

Not to a service that only accepts such data as proof.

Re: I'm reluctant to verify my identity or age for any online services

#18
post #5

The problem for me is not services where the content is online, you can just avoid those, but cases where access to scarce real resources is controlled through online verification. E.g. renting recording studios, background checks for job applications, things like this. Often there is no route that does not go through a third-party verification service.

I gave a bunch of details of my personal history to a verification service thinking naively that it would be used to prove I was me.

Instead, they didn't know much about me apparently and just stored what I told them.

Then it appears they were hacked because some completely unrelated release of stolen data included all my data, specifically all that data I had provided to that service, that one time.

The Verification Service is the honeypot for your private information. Arg.

Re: I'm reluctant to verify my identity or age for any online services

#19
I encountered my first run-in with an age verification prompt when I went to authenticate into the Claude iOS app. It asked me to use me iOS/iCloud account to confirm myage. It was quick and seamless enough, but even though I'm aware of this trend, it struck me as a bit jarring.

Re: I'm reluctant to verify my identity or age for any online services

#20

Enforcing laws against porn companies distributing porn to minors seems reasonable. It's already illegal many places, such as the US. It is then their responsibility to gate by age. It has always worked this way for liquor stores or basically anything else age-gated, including some online services like poker. If you dont want to provide age verification you don't have to.

There is a difference between a liquor store checking your ID, and a liquor store scanning your ID, appending it to a record of your purchase, and uploading it to a service to be processed by third parties (such as insurance companies, perhaps).

(In the US, the latter occurs more often than you may expect.)

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