The Slow Death Of Privacy: Age-Verification Laws’ Evolution

For almost a decade now, governments worldwide have been on a crusade to "protect children online." Now it all sounds noble and commendable until you realize that these age verification laws they’re trying to push with it are hardly about children or anyone’s safety at all. Because in reality, it’s one of the most dangerous threats to digital privacy, security, and anonymity the world has ever seen.

What started out as simply clicking the "I certify I am 18 or older" button is now planned to or has already been replaced by full-on ID verification, requiring users to upload their government-issued IDs and other sensitive documents just to access the most basic sites. The world governments are steadily pushing us all toward global surveillance, and while it might’ve sounded like a bad joke not too long ago, today, it’s getting very serious.

Surveillance Under The Disguise Of Child Safety

These days, many regions already face pretty strict age verification laws, with more serious measures well on their way. In half of US states, adult websites must verify users are 18+ before granting access. The UK's Online Safety Act demands "strong age checks" for any service with adult content. Australia is implementing a two-phase plan requiring age verification for search engines, social media, and even AI chatbots.

In Vietnam, you're required to provide your phone number or government ID just to post on social media. And while some countries in Europe already employ similar laws, the EU as a whole is moving toward age-verification law implementation through Chat Control, too, which is a little better than the previous iteration, which was proposing mandatory message scanning, but it’s still nowhere near ideal.

The methods used for this are quite straightforward but nonetheless harmful. You have to upload your government ID, submit to facial age estimation, hand over your credit card, use biometric scans, and connect to national identity databases.

It may not seem anything more than an inconvenience until you stop and think about it for a moment. In truth, all this fundamentally breaks how the internet works. You can't verify age without collecting massive amounts of personal data. And once that data exists, it becomes a very easy target just waiting to be attacked.

At the same time, it's not just about data safety. It not only leads people to using unsafe tools to bypass restrictions but also opens the door for tracking, political censorship, free speech restriction, blackmailing, and countless other horrifying dystopian things you can think of. But sure, let’s pretend this is all so that kids don’t get exposed to adult content online. 

Age-Verification Laws Timeline Of The Past Decade

The age verification laws have been around for a pretty long time now. They officially started in the early 2000s in China, Germany, and, a little later, South Korea. However, for the rest of the world, on this front, things remained relatively calm until 2017.

With that in mind, here's how age verification went from a checkbox nobody took seriously to a biometric dragnet over the past decade, and why it's likely to get a whole lot worse.

2017-2019: The UK's False Start

The UK passed the Digital Economy Act in 2017, planning mandatory age verification for adult content sites. After years of delays over privacy concerns, they scrapped it in 2019.

Of course, the idea didn't die – it just hibernated while politicians figured out how to sell surveillance as safety. And as we now know, the second time things went much smoother for them.

2020-2022: Europe Catches Speed, Others Take Notes

France passed its own age verification law in 2020, requiring "rigorous checks" with "double anonymity,” which sounds fancy but doesn’t really work. Likewise, Germany starts modernizing and tightening its already-standing laws, pressuring social platforms and major adult content sites into using age verification and launching actions against those who do not.

At the same time, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in the US focused mainly on data privacy, while Australia enacted its Online Safety Act in 2021, which later led to the age-verification proposal in 2023.

While not exactly an age verification law in this period just yet, 2022 also marked the year when the European Commission first unveiled its original Chat Control proposal. Its aim was to force all email and messenger providers to scan their users’ communications for child sexual abuse material.

2023: The Floodgates Open

This is when things accelerated even more. Louisiana became the first US state to require age verification for adult sites in January 2023. Utah followed in May, Virginia in July, and by year's end, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Texas had joined, too, though Texas's law was initially blocked before being reinstated after appeals.

The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) was also introduced federally, extending requirements beyond social media to video games, messaging apps, and streaming services. At the same time, South Korea’s long-standing ID/age-verification law makes a broad shift to the international standard, too.

Meanwhile, the UK comes back to the game with their new Online Safety Act. It gets passed on October 26th, giving the relevant secretary of state the power to designate, suppress, and record all sorts of online content deemed illegal or harmful to children, all the while also throwing age verification into the mix.

2024: Global Expansion

By 2024, the number of US states with age-verification laws keeps growing. Montana, North Carolina, Idaho, Kansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Nebraska all joined the club. 

The EU's Digital Services Act took a "risk-based approach," requiring the largest platforms to implement age assurance. The EU also began developing an Age Verification Blueprint, including an EU Digital Identity Wallet. Meanwhile, France passes a law giving ARCOM the power to impose legal sanctions and block adult sites that fail to comply.

At the same time, Singapore started requiring app stores to use age assurance for downloads. India passed broad parental consent requirements for any online service processing data for users under 18.

2025: The Surveillance State Goes Live

The UK's Online Safety Act finally went into effect in July 2025, requiring "strong age checks" for any platform with content kids might see. Likewise, France also fully commits to its age verification law, while the German court upholds bans over age-verification failures.

Italy also saw 2025 as the right time to adopt age-verification regulations, with Spain submitting the bill to Parliament earlier the same year.

Australia announced its two-phase plan, with phase 1 rolling out in December 2025 for search engines and ISPs. And the US? More states keep joining: Florida, Wyoming, Arizona, Ohio, and Missouri all passed laws in 2025, with many more pending.

2026 And Beyond: What The Future Holds

The upcoming year will likely be big for age-verification law proponents. Australia’s Phase 2, involving bans for adult site, AI chatbots, app stores, and similar platforms hosting adult content, rolls out in March. Some USA states are also planning a similar approach when it comes to the app stores.

The EU’s Chat Control is also nearing its finalization, which, after a lot of back and forth, has dropped the mandatory message scanning for a strict age-verification system and is currently almost unopposed.

Indonesia is implementing an age-rating system targeting social media, with verification requirements rolling out through March 2027. And, of course, more will likely appear as the time goes by.

The Fight For Privacy And Anonymity Continues

The age verification laws around the world are in full swing, and not to be pessimistic, but I doubt that we’ll be able to do much to stop this unfortunate movement. Yet, this absolutely doesn’t mean that there’s nothing we can do about it. The development of the EU’s Chat Control is the perfect example of how people who came together, made their voices heard, and stood their ground managed to achieve a serious victory. 

By flipping Germany and Luxembourg to our side before the crucial vote, we now get a seriously watered-down version of the regulation, turning a law that would’ve completely eliminated even the thought of digital privacy and anonymity into a strict age verification law, which, although bad, is not nearly as terrible.

The reality is that our situation is dire. But we can prevail. So do not give up; join relevant movements and be proactive yourself. As long as we’re together, we can do it!