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At SK NEXUS, we usually like to call ourselves tech optimists. We break down what’s exciting, what’s changing, and how it all connects back to you.
But sometimes, optimism isn’t enough. Every now and then, the tech world throws something at us that feels less like progress and more like a warning sign.
When that happens, we owe you “the talk”
This isn’t fear-mongering - it’s raising awareness.
Because if the average Bashir (or anyone, really) doesn’t know what’s going on, then it’s easier for these changes to slip by unnoticed.
So here’s our ask: read this carefully, share it with your circle, and keep the conversation alive. Awareness is the first step, and if enough of us care, real pushback can happen.
They say it’s about protecting kids, but in reality, it’s about collecting the most sensitive data you have - handing it to people and systems you’ll never meet, never trust, and never control.
Right now, governments in Australia, the EU, the UK, and the US are pushing hard for “mandatory age checks” across the internet.
And once the big players comply, the rest will follow.
Think about it: you go to play GTA 6 on launch day, but first, you’re told to upload your ID. Welcome to the future where proving your age becomes the gateway to tracking everything you do online.
In this article, I’ll cover what the problem is and how age verification work, why it’s a massive privacy breach, the consequences of age verification and much more.
Let’s get started.
The Global Push for Mandatory Age Checks
Lawmakers are racing to force ID checks across every corner of the internet.
Each country has its own official reason.
But the result is the same: one step closer to a web where anonymity dies, and surveillance becomes the default.
AU: Ban for Under-18s on Social Media
Australia isn’t just kicking kids off social media, they’re forcing everyone to prove their age.
The law, set to kick in by late 2025, will require platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook etc to verify user ages. If the companies don’t comply with the law, these companies could face fines up to A$49.9 million.
You might be wondering: “But… how will they check if it’s a kid or not?” Well, everyone of us will have to prove it to them:
The government says it’s about “child safety.”
But what it really means is handing over sensitive data to corporations and AI systems that will store, analyze, and potentially share it - all in the name of keeping them safe.
And once this infrastructure is built? It’ll be for everyone.
EU: The “Privacy-Friendly” Age Check
Across the EU, several countries are pushing for an under-18 social media ban, but they’re packaging it in softer and more secure language.
The proposal is to roll out a government-backed app that proves you’re over 18 without revealing anything else. The magic ingredient includes: Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP), which is a cryptographic trick that can confirm an attribute (like your age) without exposing other details.
Here’s the theory behind the app:
The app is white-label, so each EU member state can release its own version
You download it from an app store and it verifies you meet the age threshold, then passes only a yes/no signal to the platform
And here’s what the important people say:
“Excessive screen time can limit the development of critical skills, alter cognitive capacities, weaken human relationships, and diminish the ability to collaborate effectively.”
But we all know theory is one thing and implementation is another.
And there are many concerning questions, such as: Who controls the app? Who audits the ZKP system? What happens if certain groups - the unbanked, undocumented, or tech-poor are locked out? And what really goes on behind the scenes?
When you start asking such questions, you end up realizing that even the so called privacy friendly solutions still build the same gate and once they are in place, they can be shape-shifted into anything.
UK: The Online Safety Act - Safety or Surveillance?
So, many of you might have seen the term “Online Safety Act” thrown around, but what exactly is this?
In a nutshell, the UK’s Online Safety Act is marketed as a law to protect people, especially children, from harmful online content. The core involves making platforms responsible for shielding under-18s from explicit material, predatory behaviour, and other online dangers.
But to enforce it, everyone will have to prove who they are, which is the problematic part. If age verification becomes mandatory, it means:
You’ll need to submit a government ID, passport, or driving license to prove you’re an adult
Third-party verification services will hold and potentially share sensitive personal date.
The barrier applies to every user, because the system can’t work otherwise. In other words, the solution strips away online anonymity in the name of safety.
And all this data would be gathered in a centralized database of personal information that could be hacked, misused, or repurposed for other forms of surveillance.
The United Kingdom, surely doesn’t want to slow down. First, it was demanding encryption backdoors “to protect children.” Now, it’s age verification for everyone.
If you are curious about the encryption topic, I’ve covered that backdoor fight in detail here: Why Government Backdoors in Encryption Are a Bad Idea.
USA: The Age Verification Wild West
If you think this is just an Europe thing, think again. America is already deep in the age verification game - just not in one clean national law. Instead, it is a patchwork of state bills, each one slightly different, each one with its own rules, and all of them chipping away at the same thing: your anonymity online.
It started small - “let’s just keep kids off certain sites.” But that quickly turned into laws requiring ID checks for social media and adult sites in states like Louisiana, Utah, Mississippi, North Carolina, and more.
Some states have taken it further. In Virginia, under-16s can only use social media for one hour a day unless a parent approves. Nebraska passed a law that will give parents direct access to their kids’ accounts. Georgia is banning social media use in schools entirely.
And these are just some of the states that I listed. If you want to check out full details, check this out.
The “Protecting Kids” Excuse
Every law we’ve just talked about comes wrapped in the same shiny packaging:
“This is about protecting children.”
On paper, it sounds noble. Who wouldn’t want to keep kids away from everything, right? But the end result is a universal ID requirement for everyone.
This whole movement started with adult websites. Lawmakers realized they could use the “think of the children” argument to force through verification laws that apply across the entire internet.
Adult sites became the Trojan horse and once those rules were in place, it was easy to extend them to other platforms.
The point is, it’s not the government’s job to pamper what kids see online , that’s on parents. And even if governments could enforce every single rule perfectly, it wouldn’t stop the determined ones. Kids would still find workarounds, because that’s what the internet does best.
And what’s to stop a random person living in Ohio, from spinning up his own server, loading it with explicit content, and tossing up a fake verification system just to tick the legal box?
In the end, these policies don’t just fail at their stated goal. They only give governments a permanent tool to track everyone online.
The Loophole Problem
Most of you are probably thinking - Come on, this can’t be that serious. There are plenty of workarounds, right?
Let’s talk about them.
VPNs: The First Line of Evasion
After the whole Online Safety Act drama, VPN interest among teens shot through the roof. Naturally, this caught the government’s attention. Now the idea of VPNs getting banned is floating, because in their eyes - it’s the obvious loophole.
But here’s the thing: even if they pull it off, then what? People will just move to Tor, SSL-based VPNs, private proxies…the list goes on. You can’t plug every hole in the wall.
Graeme Stewart from Check Point Software said it right:
"The logistics are near-impossible. You could, in theory, ban the sale of VPN equipment or instruct ISPs not to accept VPN traffic. But even then, people will find workarounds. All you'd achieve is pushing VPN use underground, creating a black market for VPN concentrators."
I agree with this so much. All this ban would do is push the tech further underground, and history has shown that once something goes underground, it’s even harder to track.
The MP Fake ID Hack
⚠️Caution: Don’t use sites like this to bypass ID checks. It’s not a good idea, and if you try it and things go south - that’s on you, not me. The following information is for educational purposes only.
In the UK, a programmer built a parody site that spits out mock driving licenses for your local MP - purely as a protest against age verification laws.
So, basically, you type in your postcode. The site figures out which MP represents that area. It then generates a fake driving license with that politician’s face on it.
The message in other words is:
If you think your system is foolproof, here’s how easy it is to fake an ID even with a famous politician’s face.
And while it’s funny to look at, it’s still being used by tons of people to try and slip past verification systems. And that’s where this joke turns into a legal landmine.
When a Video Game Outsmarts Government Policy
Hold one, we got more of these.
Brits are now using Death Stranding’s Photo Mode to slip past UK-mandated age checks on Discord and Reddit. Instead of face scans or ID uploads, they just point their phone at a virtual character - mimicking real facial movements like opening and closing his mouth. It’s enough to fool the system.
People are pulling this of with Death Stranding, God of War and many other games.
The Bypass Game Never Ends
What you saw earlier are just a handful of examples.
The minute governments roll out a law people don’t agree with, especially one that messes with how people live online - they end up lighting a fuse. And after that, it’s only a matter of time before workarounds flood in.
Now, Governments can tighten the screws all they want, but every lock invites a new pick.
Once every login is turned into a cat-and-mouse game, what exactly are the governments teaching the very children they claim to protect?
And if the policy’s main outcome is encouraging people to outsmart it. Then, maybe the actual problem is the policy itself.
How Age Verification Actually Works
At its core, age verification is about turning you into data. That usually means: Face scans, ID uploads, Biometric checks. All of these run through third-party verification companies, which now have a copy of your most sensitive documents.
And it’s important to note that once your data is out there, it’s out there. You can’t un-upload your passport photo or un-share your driver’s license number.
The moment you agree to hand over your identity for something as simple as logging into a website, you’ve already lost control of it. And that’s the part they don’t like to advertise.
The Tea App Hack: A Warning From the Future
Governments say, “Just give us your private info - it’s for your safety.”
But what happens next?
A very recent event gives us a chilling preview of the answer. You’ve probably seen it in the headlines - yes, I’m talking about the Tea App hack.
Let’s briefly uncover what mess the Tea App hack made.
Promise vs. Reality
For those of you who don’t know, The Tea App is a dating app that is a women-only platform. To get in, you had to verify you were a woman, which meant handing over sensitive personal data: government ID scans, photos, and other private details.
Then it happened.
Over 72,000 documents and images leaked.
It was inevitable because when you give away your most private information, you’re betting on the platform never failing you. The Tea App shows what happens when that bet goes wrong.
When “Delete After Verification” Is a Lie
The Tea App swore your data would be wiped after its users were verified. That promise was just marketing BS. No ID scans, photos, and personal info were deleted, and now they’re out there for anyone to grab.
This isn’t just embarrassing - it’s dangerous. Now, that data is probably being used for identity theft, getting sold on the dark web, or being fed into profiling systems that target you in ways you can’t see.
And the ironic thing?
This was from a platform claiming to keep “women safe.“
From Tea to Ashley Madison - The Pattern Is Clear
The Tea App isn’t the only horror story. Remember Ashley Madison? That flashy dating site marketed itself as secure and discreet, until millions of users had their credit card numbers, IDs, and personal messages dumped online.
These apps might look polished and trustworthy on the outside, but the truth is often uglier than the UI. I even dug into Tea’s backend architecture, and it was a mess from the start.
If you want to go deep into the details of the Tea App hack, a fellow writer Secrets of Privacy have covered this hack brilliantly. Here is the link to his posts:
The Bigger Picture: Surveillance Creep
This isn’t just about uploading your ID to get on Instagram. Once you normalize age verification, the door opens for something much darker.
Google has already admitted it’s going to use AI to scan your search history and guess your age. If it’s wrong? You could be locked out until you hand over more personal details to prove who you are.
And Google isn’t the only one doing this, YouTube is also implementing the same thing.
And once these models are in place, there is no guarantee that they won’t expand. Today it’s “show us your age.” Tomorrow it could be:
“Prove your political alignment.”
“Confirm your financial status.”
“Verify your employment or education.”
I know my claims sound like I can foresee the future as if I am Doctor Strange, but that’s the thing…surveillance creep always starts small - then spreads.
We already have proof of how fragile these systems are. Have I Been Pwned tracks data breaches, and the number is staggering: billions of accounts, emails, passwords, and IDs already leaked.
Real World Case Studies
If you think governments haven’t already tested these waters, think again. Age verification and “protecting children” laws are not a new invention, and history shows they rarely stay limited to their original promises. Let’s look at some examples.
Russia: From Child Safety to Silencing Opposition
Back in 2012, Russia introduced what it called a child safety measure. On paper, it was about protecting kids from harmful content. In practice, it became something very different.
What’s ironic is that - the law quickly morphed into a censorship tool, blocking access to political opposition sites, independent media, and LGBT content.
What started as “protecting children” became something else entirely. And once the infrastructure was in place, the government didn’t hesitate to use it far beyond its original scope.
Turkey: The Social Media Law Trap
Turkey did a similar thing in 2020 with its Social Media Law. Framed as a safeguard for “family values,” it forced platforms to store user data locally and hand it over to the government on demand.
Unsurprisingly, this wasn’t about families at all. It became a mechanism for forcing platforms to surrender user data.
France: A Failed Attempt
France recently tried to enforce age verification laws, targeting adult sites first. The government demanded platforms implement strict ID-based systems to keep minors out.
But things didn’t go as planned for the government.
These privacy watchdogs, and digital rights groups pushed back hard. Their main point was:
”The risks of exposing millions of people’s identities outweighed the so-called benefits. Centralized ID databases would be a ticking time bomb for mass surveillance and breaches.”
But all in vain. In the end, the enforcement failed, showing just how fragile and unpopular these schemes can be when tested in practice.
The Big Tech Angle: Data Is the Real Prize
While governments frame these moves as “for the kids,” Big Tech companies are also trying to make their own move. They’ve been lobbying for data-driven verification systems, pitching themselves as the “trusted” middlemen.
And once all this personal data starts funneling through their systems, tons of questions such as: who controls it? where does it go? and for what purposes is it used? need to be answered.
What’s scary is that today, it’s about age. Tomorrow, it could be about your medical records or some other form of data.
Pakistan’s Angle: A Fragile Privacy Landscape
I’ve walked you through how the world is moving on this issue - from the U.S. and U.K. to Europe and beyond. But what about Pakistan??
Let’s zoom in and see why the risks are even greater on our soil.
Privacy Doesn’t Exist Here
In Pakistan, privacy is a joke.
Databases get hacked left and right, leaks are treated like casual news, and nobody bats an eye. The government doesn’t understand what digital privacy is, and neither do most people; there’s literally no culture of protecting individual rights.
I live here and I have seen people casually handing over CNICs, phone numbers, and personal details to random shops or shady apps without thinking twice.
And if you try advising them about privacy, they start laughing at you.
Weak Systems, Easy Targets
Our institutions aren’t built to handle this stuff. There is zero funding, ancient systems, and almost no innovation.
That’s how life is over here and instead of upgrading, governments keep patching the same broken setups.
Hackers love it, but guess who suffers every time? Ordinary people.
Blindly Copying the West
Pakistan looks to Western countries for gold standards. If the U.K. enforces an Online Safety Act or the U.S. pushes ID checks, you can bet our government will also hop on the train not to protect kids, but to squeeze more data out of people.
In a country where privacy rights barely exist, importing these laws would mean giving authorities an even bigger surveillance net with zero accountability.
Alternatives - Safety Without Surveillance
Look, I know governments aren’t going to give a crap about what I say here. They’re too busy tightening the leash. But I’m not writing for them - I’m writing for you. And you should know: there are ways to protect kids online without ripping everyone’s privacy to shreds.
Let’s talk about some of these ways.
Anonymous token verification
Anonymous token verification is basically a way of proving something (like your age) without revealing your actual identity.
Here’s how it works in a nutshell:
You prove your age once to a trusted third party.
Instead of storing your passport or keeping your details, they give you a cryptographic token that says Yes/No based on whether you are over 18.
When you go to a website, instead of uploading your ID again, you just show the token. The site can verify the token is real, but it can’t see any of your private info.
The token itself doesn’t link back to you personally. It’s limited-use only, so even if it leaks, no one can tie it back to your identity.
In short, it’s like showing a “wristband at a concert” instead of flashing your full ID every time you go to the bar, much more privacy-friendly, right?
Decentralized ID checks
Then there’s decentralized ID checks.
Instead of shoving all your private info into one giant honeypot database, verification can happen locally on your device or through trusted, distributed networks. That way, even if one system gets hit, everything doesn’t go down with it.
Parental controls
I talked about this earlier as well. It’s not the responsibility of authorities to make sure children are safe from all the things that exist on the internet. There are so many built-in tools that exist in phones, laptops, and game consoles.
Parents don’t want to step out of their comfort zone due to which all of this is happening in the first place.
Closing Thoughts
It’s been a long ride, so if you’re still here, thanks for reading.
Now, just quickly sum up this whole thing.
What we’re seeing with age verification is the blueprint for something bigger. Today, the excuse is kids and safety. Tomorrow, it could be your political leanings, your health history, your private beliefs. That’s how these systems evolve.
I get it, child safety matters. But building permanent surveillance infrastructure in the name of protection isn’t the solution. We’ve seen this movie before with terrorism, encryption backdoors, and now age checks.
Personally, I think this is just the start and it’s going to get a lot worse. Might even get drones who spy on people, cars and hardware that locks you out and much more.
I guess, we can only wait and watch.
If you found this post helpful or want more deep dives like this, share it with someone who needs it. Most people are not aware of what’s going on in the world.
“On paper, it was about protecting kids from harmful content.
In practice, it became something very different.”
Really good stuff. The difference between how they float ideas and their implementation is a great spot to dig in. Good stuff.
There will not be a “one-size-fits-all” solution, but at least people are taking initiative. Social media is destroying childhoods way more than TV ever did back in the day.