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Age verification mean end of anonymous account (nord.pub)
submitted 1 week ago by bruh@nord.pub to c/privacy@lemmy.world
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today I created a burner google account. these days google requires an Android phone in order to even create an account so I used an old phone to scan the QR code ( I am pretty sure this lets google grab all of the metadata of the mobile phone ). after about 1 hour creating the account. google's automated system disabled the account however I appealed and got the account back. before someone asks I need google because of where I live.

this made me wonder what if google mandates age verification? if there were age verification google would immediately notice that I am creating another account ( burner account ) which it won't like. burner account won't be created in the first place!

we already have too much surveillance and this makes it worse. my mobile number is already tied to my read government identity. I DO NOT want my online account to be tied to my read identify too! it is sad, it really is

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[-] Successful_Try543@feddit.org -3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

It depends on how AV is implemented. Google can either ask for your ID card, that would be inherently non-anonymous and prevent you from creating a burner account, if they would store the information of your id card – which of course Google would never do (/s). The other option would be a third party would check your ID an provide Google only with the information that the request is done by somebody of legal age.

[-] Godort@lemmy.ca 10 points 1 week ago

The other option would be a third party would check your ID an provide Google only with the information that the request is done by somebody of legal age.

You're just shifting the problem down the chain. There is no guarantee that this third party would be any more trustworthy than Google. They could even be less trustworthy, in fact.

[-] NaibofTabr@infosec.pub 5 points 1 week ago

There is no safe way to aggregate such identity information in an internet-connected database. They always get breached. Discord tried to do this and all the collected IDs got stolen almost immediately.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/02/discord-faces-backlash-over-age-checks-after-data-breach-exposed-70000-ids/

No party can be trusted to store identification information safely.

[-] Successful_Try543@feddit.org 0 points 1 week ago

The idea is that they don't store it at all.

[-] NaibofTabr@infosec.pub 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

"They" who? If the party checking the IDs does not store the information, then they must be cross-checking them against a reference database, which must be online somewhere.

[-] Successful_Try543@feddit.org 0 points 1 week ago

They check a signature, not a physical passport.

[-] NaibofTabr@infosec.pub 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Uh huh, and where does the signature come from?

It doesn't matter how many process steps or layers of obfuscation you put in the way, at some point the verification ends at a database of original ID information which must be network connected in order to be useful. No one can be trusted to hold such a database safely.

[-] Successful_Try543@feddit.org 0 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

must be network connected

No

[-] NaibofTabr@infosec.pub 2 points 1 week ago

O...k... sure, if you say so buddy.

this post was submitted on 10 Sep 2026
132 points (98.5% liked)

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