The tech already exists to verify identity and adulthood without sharing it off the device (ApplePay/GooglePay etc).
No service or state needs any ID system to upload documents to dox the user to verify their age.
No account that's existed for more than 10 years should need to have adulthood verified. 5-year olds in 2016 weren't creating online accounts to use before turning 16.
There are so many ways around this:
- People can change their app store country
- Already plenty of places you can buy "verified" accounts, there will be more
- VPNs aren't the only way to encrypt traffic and change location
- VPNs on routers are shared by all those using it
- Already many apps and sites you can use anonymously and encrypted, there will be more
- Decentralised apps and networks don't have any single entity to ask for ID, there will be more
And second order effects:
- ID becomes a high-value commodity to trade
- ID theft and coercion will increase with their new increased value
- Impersonation accounts will be used to trigger malicious state raids on the impersonated
- Online education, skills, and social awareness will be throttled for those that aren't technology and privacy-aware
- Whistleblowers will be less likely to expose corruption when doing so anonymously seems more difficult (for now)
- Less "free" countries will get less "free" access to frontier AI tools
- Less "free" countries will become poorer faster
This my friends, is the ladder being pulled up from social mobility. The slow-drip of grease on the poll. Another friction to keep you from competing, innovating, and escaping dependency.
On the up-side, thanks for accelerating decentralisation, online privacy awareness, and encouraging more people having multiple online anonymous identities to protect from doxxing and tracking.
Human ingenuity will remain unbeaten.
