Age verification forces a choice between "freedom of expression by not accessing content" or "increased security risks that will arise from data breaches and phishing sites"
ORG warns that Ofcom (UK) proposals could create new oppportunities for fraudsters to scam people into providing identification and payment information.
#SocialMedia#Meta#Facebook#AgeVerification: "“The ability to know somebody’s age and try to protect privacy at the same time can be challenging,” says Meta’s Global Head of Safety Antigone Davis. Meta has been advocating for app store operators like Apple and Google to be in charge of verifying users’ ages and soliciting parental consent for app downloads. Now, it’s using its own virtual reality Quest store as a model for how it thinks that should work.
Meta is prompting Quest 2 and 3 users to reenter their birthdays so that it can place accounts in the appropriate age experience as it tries to centralize age verification through its Quest store. Teens aged 13 to 17 will have more privacy settings turned on by default and can be monitored through parental supervision tools. Preteens aged 10 to 12 have even more restrictive settings turned on, with only parents or guardians able to change privacy settings.
#AgeVerification#SocialMedia#Privacy#DigitalRights#ContentModeration#Censorship: "We conclude that, while there is a clear need for protecting children online, there are currently no age assurance method that adequately protect individuals’ fundamental rights. The risks associated with the implementation of age assurance include privacy intrusion, data leak, behavioural surveillance, identity theft, and impeded autonomy. Moreover, while none of the methods reviewed could attest user’s age with certainty, the implementation of such measures may exacerbate existing discrimination against already disadvantaged groups of society, likely widen the digital divide and lead to further exclusion.
Promising privacy-preserving techniques, e.g, digital identities and double-blind transmission methods, are under development. These may offer improved user privacy protection by enabling anonymous age assurance. However, important security and inclusivity risks remain. Moreover, these technologies face implementation challenges, given the current absence of a pan-European technical and legal framework to support their wide adoption." https://www.greens-efa.eu/en/article/document/trustworthy-age-assurance
🚨 The Irish Media Regulator Coimisiún na Meán is posing a threat to the whole EU.
In its new Online Safety Code, it suggests #AgeVerification for practically all video-sharing platforms in IRELAND, with consequences that will affect millions of people in the EU.
EDRi network submitted a response to the Coimisiún public consultation with recommendations on how the Online Safety Code can include safeguards against security threats posed by #AgeVerification.
#UK#AI#FaceScanning#AgeVerification: "Artificial intelligence (AI) face-scanning technology that checks the age of shoppers buying alcohol is to be rolled out at supermarkets under government plans to replace the use of physical ID documents.
Chris Philp, the policing minister, announced on Wednesday that the Government is to consult on new laws that would allow supermarkets to use AI technology capable of accurately estimating the age of shoppers by using a camera to scan their face at the tills.
Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Co-op have already successfully trialled the technology which allowed anyone that is estimated to be over 25 to buy their alcohol without further checks.
Those assessed to be under 25 had to go through the traditional confirmation of age by presenting an ID document such as a passport or driving licence."
It's "very concerning that Ofcom is solely relying upon data protection laws and the Information Commissioner's Office" to protect privacy when using age verification on sites with porn content.
We need specific and clear privacy rules, given that loads of sensitive data will be processed.
ORG calls on Ofcom to go further in setting out clearer standards and guidelines.
This is necessary to protect users’ data from the substantially increased risk of fraud and cybercrime that comes with invasive age verification technologies.
⚠️ Age verification is risky but Ofcom wants to introduce it on web users ⚠️
"The potential consequences of data being leaked are catastrophic and could include blackmail, fraud, relationship damage, and the outing of people's sexual preferences in very vulnerable circumstances."
1/8 Between 9 & 11 Oct, 2⃣3⃣ activists from Greece, Italy, Czech Republic, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Portugal, Denmark, Romania, Germany, Spain & France came to Brussels to:
tell MEPs to ❌ reject the #CSAR proposal to prevent mass surveillance.
#EU#AgeVerification#Privacy#DataProtection: "Based on the methods and risks analysed in this paper, we define six key risks of the use of age verification tools, in particular:
Violating children’s privacy and data protection rights;
Infringing upon children’s autonomy and self-expression online;
Letting companies control what children can see and do online;
Making anonymity online difficult or impossible;
Exacerbating structural discrimination; and
Creating a false sense of security
Read EDRi's analysis
After charting out the three main types of age verification, EDRi’s analysis concludes that there are no EU-wide ‘document-based verification’ or ‘estimation’ tools that minimise these risks to the extent that their widespread use could be considered compatible with children’s rights. Age ‘declaration’ tools are more likely to align with children’s rights, but they require additional research and development to improve their effectiveness. As a general rule, therefore, policy- and law-makers must not mandate age estimation or document-based verification measures."
#Ageverification ist ein kritischer Teil der #Chatkontrolle zusammen mit @edri haben wir aufgeschrieben welche Probleme es gibt und warum es keine guten technischen Lösungen gibt.