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A driver’s license for the Internet

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Like it millions of other teenagers, Jack Merrill, an 18-year-old living outside of Chicago, regularly uses the online game platform Roblox. So when it rolled out a new feature – voice chatting with other users – he wanted to try it. But first he had to revoke his driver’s license.

Jack had to go through what’s called an age gate, an identity check that’s becoming more and more common online. Roblox wanted to verify that he was at least 13 before he could voice chat. The game asked for government ID to confirm his age, and a selfie to make sure it was his ID.

These checks are popping up all over the internet as part of a global effort to protect the safety of children. At least two dozen states have proposed or passed age restrictions on websites, many of them aimed at restricting access to pornography. Countries such as Britain, Italy and Japan have passed similar laws. As of this month, seven states have passed laws requiring age verification for users on websites like Pornhub. Companies are also restricting children’s access to dating apps, gaming platforms and online shopping.

Social media is the next big target: last week France passed a law that requires social media platforms to verify the ages of their users and obtain parental consent for children under the age of 15. Legislators in Congress have introduced a bill to also set a minimum age for using social media.

But instead of just carding kids who appear to be minors, age checks could ask each user to show their ID. Legislators in favor of the restrictions say it’s a necessary cost to create a safer internet, but civil liberties advocates are concerned about the effects of age checks on privacy and internet freedom.

Legislators tried for decades to protect children from content they believed to be harmful. They encouraged ID checks for R-rated movies and forced websites like MySpace and Facebook to ask users to self-declare their age. Those checks were rudimentary: with a click and a white lie, anyone could pass.

The latest attempt to restrict access to the Internet differs in two ways.

First, technology has changed. Websites can accurately distinguish users’ ages using digital copies of driver’s licenses or passport scans, options that were not widely available even a few years ago.

Second, public opinion has shifted. Children are experiencing a national mental health crisis and a majority of parents say getting out of the pandemic is their number one concern. They are particularly concerned about social media, which the US surgeon general recently warned about health risk for children.

Who have mental health problems caused the last wave of age restriction proposals, including laws that have been passed Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Utah and Virginia. Many lawmakers say the Internet should be treated like a controlled substance, like cigarettes or alcohol.

“We’ve agreed as a society not to let a 15-year-old go to a bar or strip club,” said Laurie Schlegel, the Republican state representative behind Louisiana’s age-verification law. told my colleague Natasha Singer. “The same protections should be online so you know a 10-year-old isn’t watching hardcore pornography.”

Most companies that use age checks assure users that their data will not be stored. But privacy activists say many companies and governments, already prone to data breaches, are unwilling to age-check without occasionally storing or revealing intimate information about users’ Internet behavior — what they look at, who they talk to, or what they do. to buy.

The activists say age checks are part of a slow creep into a world where corporations, and even democratic governments, have an almost complete picture of people’s lives. This is already the case in China, where the government uses widespread surveillance to track its citizens and limit dissent. China has mentioned the protection of children as a reason to restrict speech online.

“Surveillance is strongly linked to authoritarianism,” says Carissa Véliz, author of the book “Privacy is Power.” “We are really testing the limits of democracy.”

Age checks don’t always work, privacy activists claim, pointing to potential loopholes such as virtual private networks. Kids can also ask a parent to help them create an account, or try to do so using false identification. The age limits are also a barrier to the Internet for some adults, unable to get them to work or identify themselves.

The patchwork of different forms of access creates different versions of the internet for every American, with their rights and ability to access information varying depending on their age and where they live.

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  • The number of migrants across the southern border is down, but officials say the lull will not last.

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