this post was submitted on 15 Apr 2026
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The EU says its age verification app is ready (thenextweb.com)
submitted 4 days ago by throws_lemy@lemmy.nz to c/europe@feddit.org
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[–] techt@lemmy.world 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

The issue isn't with being identifiable, it's with control over who has access to your identity. Even back when IDs were introduced, people would take issue with them being copied and sold by the bale to literally anyone who asks.

[–] dreamless_day@feddit.org -3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

So the new verification app must be pretty great as this completely removes the need to hand out your identity details

[–] techt@lemmy.world 8 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

It's funny that you're right, but not in the way I think you intended. Now you don't have to hand it out because it's persistently available and tied to everything you do online! It's clear you're being contrarian and aren't making points in good faith, so this isn't for you, but to anyone else reading I recommend checking out EFF's post on the subject.

[–] dreamless_day@feddit.org -4 points 3 days ago

Zero Knowledge Proofs: The Bad News

What ZKPs don’t do is mitigate verifier abuse or limit their requests, such as over-asking for information they don’t need or limiting the number of times they request your age over time. They don’t prevent websites or applications from collecting other kinds of observable personally identifiable information like your IP address or other device information while interacting with them.

ZKPs are a great tool for sharing less data about ourselves over time or in a one time transaction. But this doesn’t do a lot about the data broker industry that already has massive, existing profiles of data on people. We understand that this was not what ZKPs for age verification were presented to solve. But it is still imperative to point out that utilizing this technology to share even more about ourselves online through mandatory age verification establishes a wider scope for sharing in an already saturated ecosystem of easily linked, existing personal information online. Going from presenting your physical ID maybe 2-3 times a week to potentially proving your age to multiple websites and apps every day online is going to render going online itself as a burden at minimum and a barrier entirely at most for those who can’t obtain an ID.

So the bad thing about this is that data sellers already have your data and zero knowledge proof doesn’t change that? Pretty weak point in my opinion.