Your PC Might Soon Demand Proof of Age Before Letting You Browse. Here's What to Know
Meta says centralized app-store checks would protect teenagers while privacy advocates warn the system could expose sensitive IDs and reduce anonymity online.
- California's Digital Age Assurance Act, effective Jan. 1, 2027, joins Colorado's SB26-051 in requiring operating systems to collect user ages during setup, affecting Windows, macOS, Android, ChromeOS, and Linux distributions.
- After more than two dozen states passed laws targeting adult websites like PornHub and Utah restricted VPN usage, regulatory focus shifted to the operating system level as the next enforcement battleground.
- Meta, owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, advocates for handling age verification through Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the EU's age-verification app is 'technically ready to use.'
- Electronic Frontier Foundation deputy legal director Aaron Mackey warns these systems risk ending anonymous internet access, as critics argue linking government IDs to accounts creates permanent connections between real-world identities and sensitive online activities.
- Federal legislation such as the proposed Parents Decide Act could expand these requirements nationwide if passed, though Proton CEO Andy Yen warns that online age verification risks reshaping the internet and will 'kill privacy.
28 Articles
28 Articles
EU Court Greenlights France’s Age Checks on Pornographic Sites Across Bloc
The EU’s top court ruled on June 16 that France can require pornographic websites based elsewhere in the bloc to verify users’ ages. Since 2025, France has required publishers of pornographic material to implement technical age verification mechanisms to prevent minors from accessing their websites. Czech firms WebGroup Czech Republic and NKL Associates, which operate major pornography websites, had challenged the rules. They argued that Fran…
El Periódico
European countries will be able to force pornographic websites to verify the age of their users. This is dictated by a historic judgment issued on Tuesday by the Court of Justice of the European Union (TJUE), which supports this imposition with the aim of preventing minors from accessing content for adults.Continue reading....
One year after the establishment of the obligation of adult sites to verify the age of their visitors, the Deputy Executive Director of the Arcom, Pauline Combredet-Blastel, gave an update on the consequences of this legislation.
Your PC Might Soon Demand Proof of Age Before Letting You Browse. Here's What to Know
Age verification started with porn and social media. Now, governments are passing laws requiring operating systems to collect your age before you can use your computer at all.
Member States of the European Union may require verification of the age of users of pornographic websites, even when they are established in another ...
On Tuesday, the EU Court of Justice voted on the possibility for Member States to require pornographic sites to check the age of users.
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