Open Rights GroupJul 23, 2025

IDs at the ready 🪪

Age assurance requirements under the UK Online Safety Act kick in this Friday.

UK users will have to hand over their sensitive data to cyber bouncers without being sure they'll protect their privacy.

ORG is calling for these age assurance providers to be regulated ⬇️

https://www.openrightsgroup.org/press-releases/org-calls-for-age-assurance-industry-to-be-regulated/

#onlinesafetyact #privacy #cybersecurity #ageverification #ageassurance #dataprotection #ukpolitics #ukpol #onlinesafety

ORG calls for age assurance industry to be regulated

Open Rights Group has warned of serious privacy and security risks for people in the UK as online platforms start to ask users to verify their age, as required by the Online Safety Act.

Open Rights Group
Show threadToni Aittoniemi
@openrightsgroup UK is doing age verification by private corporation?
That’s one service that needs to be state provided.
There CANNOT be a financial incentive to sell out these records.
Jul 23, 2025 at 2:41pmWeb
Show threadthesofafoxJul 23, 2025
@gimulnautti @openrightsgroup while I like your initial thought process, imagine people who criticize their UK government. Instead of a private company accessing that data, now it immediately goes to the hands of the government? Sounds awful in that regard.
Show threadToni AittoniemiJul 23, 2025

@thesofafox @openrightsgroup You are thinking in libertarian terms, and also ignoring very basic facts of fascist governance.

First of all, government is the only trustworthy structure, because it’s the only one we have power over. We have a constitution and vote. For private companies, none of that is true.

Secondly, fascism is merging of corporation & state. Hence it being private doesn’t stop a fascist government from accessing the data.

Show threadthesofafoxJul 24, 2025
@gimulnautti @openrightsgroup I would argue instead that neither government or private companies can be trusted.

What power do normal citizens have when people with loads of money run everything? Sure you can vote for representation on a national level, but it doesn't matter when most of them are going to do their lobbier's bidding (and, surprise surprise, it's the same private companies we don't like doing this lobbying). Even without lobbying, very few national government figures tend to be anywhere close to an average citizen.

There's infinite examples of people trusting their government and then the government abusing that power, typically involving data and surveillance/militarized force. But it's pointless to go over all of it. Advocating for a system that perpetually fucks its own citizens because of power being held above them is not a solution. That goes for any external entity, private company, government, or otherwise.