Post #4316146
2026-06-27 00:40 UTC
@matbury@mastodon.online @pluralistic@mamot.fr
did you read the linked article?
It includes a link to another article by @pluralistic@mamot.fr : https://pluralistic.net/2025/08/14/bellovin/#wont-someone-think-of-the-cryptographers
In that one he summarizes technical impossibilities in implementing privacy-respecting age verification, with links to the primary literature on the topic. In that case it is the method proposed for the UK specifically, but the underlying issues seem general. (you will have to skip a fair way down to get to that info)
As I understand it the issue isn't so much that the process will be given over to multiple private companies to manage, but rather that the technical requirements to verify age can't be realized without *someone* developing & maintaining infrastructure that can't be guaranteed not to leak private information.
Replies (1)
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@matbury@mastodon.online 2026-06-27 13:23
@plantarum@ottawa.place @pluralistic@mamot.fr Firstly, you're arguing absolutes; no system is absolute = false dichotomy. Secondly, you're failing to argue & sending me to form your arguments for you. Thirdly, your dismissing the viability of other age-verification systems that are not in the scope of your arguments, i.e. you're claiming it's impossible without considering all the options. Can you give a coherent, cohesive argument as to why the sky will fall in with age verification?