We’ve been saying this for years now, and we’re going to keep saying it until the message finally sinks in: mandatory age verification creates massive, centralized honeypots of sensitiv…
And as these mandates create a captive market worth billions of dollars, a whole ecosystem of venture-backed “identity-as-a-service” startups has sprung up to serve it. Persona, valued at $2 billion and backed by Peter Thiel’s investment network, is just one of many.
Unrelated to the above, but I like the wording too much:
“Child safety” has simply become the marketing department for a rent-seeking surveillance industry.
A note on the US v EU thing
Is this an US-only thing? There are several articles over the past few months hinting at US Big-Tech lobbying efforts in the EU. Thiel makes a living as a contractor of the surveillance apparatus. It is only in his interest to expand his business in the highly regulated EU, and I have not even started on his Dark Enlightment politics.
von der Leyen has no spine in this, if she isn’t actively complicit.
Hey, not two days ago someone said that connections between Peter Thiel and age verification was a “conspiracy theory”. Apart from the above link, the article states:
Unrelated to the above, but I like the wording too much:
A note on the US v EU thing
Is this an US-only thing? There are several articles over the past few months hinting at US Big-Tech lobbying efforts in the EU. Thiel makes a living as a contractor of the surveillance apparatus. It is only in his interest to expand his business in the highly regulated EU, and I have not even started on his Dark Enlightment politics.
von der Leyen has no spine in this, if she isn’t actively complicit.
someone said something similar (and in a foss community on this instance no less) about this age verification thing building a panopticon.