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UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16

alecmuffett.com

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Re: UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16

#181
post #36

On a related note, they built their digital ID so that third parties could verify attributes (it's NOT just a single-service login across government + a linking ID across government services, which is how it was sold by the BBC). They're pretty close to completely de-anonymising the internet for UK citizens. Say they introduce an Australian-style social media ban for under 16s, then requires all social media to link…

> On a related note, they built their digital ID so that third parties could verify attributes Isn’t that the entire point of government ID of any variety? The only reason anyone ever asks to see ID is so they can use it verify attributes of your identity, such as name and age. Otherwise what’s the point of an Identity Document , if it’s not to document something? Digital ID has always been sold as something approxim…

> Isn’t that the entire point of government ID of any variety?

Ideally this could be done without deanonymizing accounts to service providers unless the user wants to for a 'verified' account linked to their identity publically but I don't think any digital ID system has been built that way. Imagine it acting like OAuth but instead of passing back an identity token it's just verification of age, platforms would store that which would show they had performed the age verification and could be used for other age gates if there are any.

Re: UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16

#183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't give up. When it gets to the level of mandatory government rootkits there are bound to be underground organisations circumventing this and/or trading old hardware. I'd even go as far to say that if things become this authoritarian, certain "direct" acts would be justified in preventing or fighting it.

An illegitimate underground scene running on life support, using old unlocked computers which are a finite resource they will eventually run out of. Utterly depressing... We used to be free... If this passes, the only strategic move available is to somehow develop the ability to make our own computer processors in our garages. Billion dollar fabs are single points of failure and they will be exploited, subverted, reg…

In practice, import them from China like we used to with region unlockable DVD players.

> democratize and decentralize semiconductor manufacturing to the point anyone can do it.

Physics makes this completely unrealistic.

Re: UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16

#184

I know what you're thinking: these restrictions are easy to work around. But don't worry, we can just layer more restrictions on top. Eventually the children will be safe! The government just needs to... - require proof of age (ID) to install apps from unofficial sources on your phone or PC. Probably best to block this at both the OS and also popular VPN downloading sites like github.com and debian.org. - require pro…

You joke, but as I understand it, all internet in the UK has Government mandated 'adult content' filtering by default and you have to go through a process to prove you're over 18 to have it removed...

So they are much more than halfway there already...

Re: UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16

#185

Requiring me to upload my ID to invoke ssh with the -D flag should certainly be a top legislative priority of the United Kingdom

"ssh-D" would be a good name for a terrorist née protest group opposing this.

It'll be amusing right up until the UK decides SSH is a threat to children.

Re: UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16

#186
post #36

On a related note, they built their digital ID so that third parties could verify attributes (it's NOT just a single-service login across government + a linking ID across government services, which is how it was sold by the BBC). They're pretty close to completely de-anonymising the internet for UK citizens. Say they introduce an Australian-style social media ban for under 16s, then requires all social media to link…

> Keep in mind the UK already arrests and imprisons vast numbers of people for speech offences I think you’ve been spending too much time on Twitter

Or spending too much time in jail from speaking freely.

Re: UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16

#187
post #81
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> While figures show that the total number of arrests for online posts fell to 9,700 last year, down from a record 13,800 in 2023... https://freespeechunion.org/daily-mail-investigation-exposes...

I thought Daily Mail was close to tabloid status (or a bit above). Aren’t they banned from being a citation on Wikipedia?

It's a chipwrapper.

Re: UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16

#188

What is it about these UK politics posts that draws a particular type of commenter? What the heck media are these folks consuming to have such a warped view of this country?

Seems to be a device for American free speech advocates to feel like they’re contributing something while being distracted from Trump chilling free speech by shaking down CBS & ABC, defunding Harvard, bogus investigations into James Comey, Tish James & others, Texas school book bannings, AAUP vs Rubio, etc, etc.

Re: UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16

#189
post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> The UK is actually a scary place right now, if you are paying attention.. It has been the most authoritarian country in the West for decades already, this is nothing new. British people are the most apathetic people in the world, so it's really easy to abuse them.

>the most authoritarian country in the West

Australia and the US are more authoritarian in specific areas e.g. censorship and taxation respectively.. but overall, yes, the UK is worse.

>British people are the most apathetic

I'm not sure that's fair, our culture looks apathetic from abroad, but like other countries we care deeply about what our media tell us to care about.

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