I’m asking because I just had to verify my age thanks to YouTube requiring me to watch a video that was age restricted.
You have absolutely f*cked yourself over by doing that. It’s not a matter of if that ID you just gave them is going to get leaked, it’s a matter of when and by who. These ID verification companies are infamous for mishandling this kind of information and are huge easy targets for hackers.
I would highly recommend preparing for the worst now before it happens so when your ID does get compromised you already have things handled.
Do not give these companies your ID unless you really like the idea of someone POS using it to commit crimes on your behalf.
Not for me it fucking hasn’t.
And won’t.
No no no fucking NO!
Do NOT accept this! Do NOT normalize this! DO NOT COMPLY!
Did you really need to see that youtube video? If it was that important, then find another way. Lie. Get a downloader. Get creative. Or walk away, since it was probably not that important
DON’T SELL YOUR IDENTITY FOR CONVENIENCE. DON’T WILLINGLY FEED THE SPIES MORE INFORMATION.
And when they require age verification of the o/s then what?
I haven’t been able to watch age restricted videos on YouTube for many years since I closed my google account.
I’m used to not being able to watch or go anywhere I want.
For YouTube, use a VPN that terminates in Albania. Like magic, no more forced sign ins, or ads, or age checks.
I haven’t age verified anything and I don’t plan to. It’s only normal when you normalize it. If something will no longer allow me access without verifying my age, I will either find a way around it or I will no longer use that thing. If Youtube is not going to let me watch age restricted videos, so what? I will not watch age restricted videos on Youtube. I will instead use an addon to find them on odysee or peertube instead if possible, or I’ll just live my life accepting that video probably wasn’t one I really needed that contained the only key to living a happy life. It’s not that important, certainly not important enough to verify my age to the surveillance police.
If they try to make me age verify my home internet connection, well then I’m gonna have to get real creative, sure, but rest assured I will (with the help of the rest of the privacy-oriented community) find ways to obfuscate the fuck out of all traffic in and out of my network so thoroughly it won’t even matter if they know who owns my internet connection because it won’t even be relevant anymore. VPN everything. Become an open relay. Join the I2P project. Embrace mesh networking. Fuck them, they can’t stop us all.
Why are you not using a VPN?
It doesn’t have to be. While the real issue is like all surveillance, it will get pushed back against and then repackaged later as a “new” idea again.
We’ve been doing this song and dance since the Clipper Chips.
Once the politicians start realizing they cannot legislate math and that they are also at risk under these systems, we’ll see bigger pushback to them again.
Not for me, I don’t participate in any service that requires it
Haven’t interacted with anything forcing it yet.
