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EU Online Age Verification (Age assurance) been enforced from 21st July 2025

1235»

Comments

  • #122
    corkie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 9,092 ✭✭✭corkie


    https://www.biometricupdate.com/202508/idnow-earns-early-certification-for-eidas-2-0-biometric-identity-verification
    • IDnow has earned certification to the European Commission’s standard for digital identity verification for several of its flagship biometric IDV and fraud prevention products. The certification was awarded by QSCert, an accredited conformity assessment body.
    https://www.idnow.io/privacy/

    I think this is the first provider to be certified? But I can't figure out how the end user can start the process to get a 'ident id' to use in their apps.

    How it works – Platform | Identity verification

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je-ZyBFWbPQ

    Edit: - You need to get the website/platform to initiate the process and send you an 'Ident ID'

    https://user.idnow.io/s/article/Getting-users-to-start-their-identification?language=en_US
    Post edited by corkie on

    #Aras25 | Have your say on the two linked polls? AH & CA
    "There will be a protest vote and absolutely people’s right to do that. There is no intention to take away that right or to stop it in any way." ~ Chair of the Electoral Commission Ms Justice Marie Baker
    "Níl mé toilteanach toil a thabhairt"! 24-09-2025 09:31PM



  • #123
    corkie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 9,092 ✭✭✭corkie


    It has been 3 days since I posted any news or development on this!

    It seems both sides, in favour or against have been active doing things.

    https://reclaimthenet.org/lobbyists-propose-vpn-age-checks

    Not from the above but The Campaign for Kids advocates age verification for VPNs in the US to prevent minors from accessing adult content online.

    image.png
    https://ppc.land/nextdns-introduces-dns-level-bypass-for-age-verification-systems/

    ^^ Tested above with 'Xitter' and 'Reddit' and as it is brand new beta it didn't work!

    Handy thing is I can configure Windscribe to use NextDNS servers.

    On VPN usage!

    Try researching these 2 things?: -

    • Kill Switch
    • Split Tunnelling

    There is an inbuilt Kill Switch on Android! Some VPN Clients might call it something else. Windscribe calls it a 'Firewall' and available on Desktop version (not browser). This will prevent you accessing content and leaking your IP if the VPN goes down. Also possible in windows with scripting. Downside is you could end troubleshooting internet access, if you forgot you enabled it.

    Split Tunnelling, If you need to have a VPN for a specific browser/app but also want to connect to other services that don't allow or like VPN users.

    #Aras25 | Have your say on the two linked polls? AH & CA
    "There will be a protest vote and absolutely people’s right to do that. There is no intention to take away that right or to stop it in any way." ~ Chair of the Electoral Commission Ms Justice Marie Baker
    "Níl mé toilteanach toil a thabhairt"! 24-09-2025 09:31PM



  • #124
    corkie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 9,092 ✭✭✭corkie


    https://www.biometricupdate.com/202508/us-makes-changes-to-eu-digital-services-act-a-condition-of-final-trade-deal
    • Having hurled accusations of censorship at the UK Online Safety Act, the U.S. government is putting more pressure on Europe to amend its Digital Services Act (DSA) as a condition of finalizing a trade deal between the two sides
    • A statement posted to the X account of law firm Byrne & Storm (link to statement, not post) says it is responding to a provisional notice from Ofcom, indicating its intention to fine 4chan 20,000 UK pounds (about 27,000 dollars), “plus daily penalties thereafter.”

    So the #DSA could still feature in negotiations to finalize the EU&US Trade deal!

    @Enduro You wondering how a foreign company might be fined by the EU/UK, that is a case to keep an eye on!?

    https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/dame-rachel-de-souza-blames-vpns-alarming-spike-pornographic-exposure-among-children-below-18-1741591
    • On BBC Newsnight, Dame Rachel warned: 'Of course, we need age verification on VPNs – it's absolutely a loophole that needs closing and that's one of my major recommendations.'
    • While Dame Rachel is calling for urgent reforms, the UK government has stopped short of considering a full VPN ban. According to The Guardian, officials say VPNs are legal tools for adults and there are no plans to outlaw them. ~ Yet?

    On a personal level, my own personal youtube channel was stroke off today, without any prior warning or strikes on the content. Annoying thing is that is my main legacy account which would not have required age verification based on the age of the google account. My alternative google account is only 13 years old. I also have paid for content in my library on main account that I can no longer access. Sent an appeal that can take up to two days or more to be answered.

    If they don't get back to me with clear reasons for been stroke off and not clarifying on what video/s violated 'deceptive practices' guidelines, I think I may have mentioned using Hermit/Tampermonkey scripts in the title/description of the videos but didn't show how to use them tools.

    I don't care about losing video content I posted, just want access back to my youtube account. If they refuse, I think I may have a good case to report to commission na mean?

    On another note. anyone know of an age restricted platform, I can share my access code for age gating on my own website, already using Reddit! But seeking an alternative to youtube thats not meta/'X'?

    @SharpCoder Told me to create another account, but I replied if they don't restore my account, I will goto alternatives, already joined rumble tonight!

    #Aras25 | Have your say on the two linked polls? AH & CA
    "There will be a protest vote and absolutely people’s right to do that. There is no intention to take away that right or to stop it in any way." ~ Chair of the Electoral Commission Ms Justice Marie Baker
    "Níl mé toilteanach toil a thabhairt"! 24-09-2025 09:31PM



  • #125
    corkie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 9,092 ✭✭✭corkie


    If you think EU/UK Age Verification laws are strict, have a look at the result of Mississippi laws!

    #Aras25 | Have your say on the two linked polls? AH & CA
    "There will be a protest vote and absolutely people’s right to do that. There is no intention to take away that right or to stop it in any way." ~ Chair of the Electoral Commission Ms Justice Marie Baker
    "Níl mé toilteanach toil a thabhairt"! 24-09-2025 09:31PM



  • #126
    corkie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 9,092 ✭✭✭corkie


    Sorry encounter site bugs on the last post!

    I will continue here.

    image.png

    https://bsky.social/about/blog/08-22-2025-mississippi-hb1126

    So as I said in the previous post I started to post, UK/EU Laws don't look as strict when you compare to the above.

    Also a link for a VPN on chrome webstore should be avoided and certainly not continued to be used: -

    https://cyberinsider.com/chrome-vpn-extension-with-100k-installs-screenshots-all-sites-users-visit/ ~ FreeVPN.One Featured listing!

    • A Koi Security investigation of the VPN tool reveals that it has been capturing full-page screenshots from users’ browsers, logging sensitive visual data like personal messages, financial dashboards, and private photos, and uploading it to aitd[.]one, a domain registered by the extension’s developer.

    And 4chan battle continues: - https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq68j5g2nr1o

    #Aras25 | Have your say on the two linked polls? AH & CA
    "There will be a protest vote and absolutely people’s right to do that. There is no intention to take away that right or to stop it in any way." ~ Chair of the Electoral Commission Ms Justice Marie Baker
    "Níl mé toilteanach toil a thabhairt"! 24-09-2025 09:31PM



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  • #127
    Enduro
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 3,942 ✭✭✭Enduro


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123746342#Comment_123746342

    That's a good illustration of how counterproductive these rules are. Any kids who decide to use a VPN to circumvent the restriction on the small number of sites impacted by these laws are potentially opening themselves up to all sorts of malware embedded in VPNs from unreliable sources. (And of course, as illustrated in another thread here, kids generally have far more knowledge about VPNs etc. than the eejits voting in these laws). And if they are stupid enough to try to age restrict the more well-known VPNs, kids will naturally start using the dodgier ones, which by their nature are more likely to be beyond the jurisdiction of these laws.

    Or kids can just go to less well-governed sites than the small number that have been age-restricted to obtain similar content (after all, the market has not been reduced in any way by these laws, only the more obvious "easy target" suppliers have been constricted).



  • #128
    corkie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 9,092 ✭✭✭corkie


    That is why I have been encouraging people to research what VPN's they use. @Enduro

    The above example is just one pitfall example that got caught out!

    I think the below two articles are covering the same apps?

    https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2025/08/19/android-vpn-apps-used-by-millions-are-covertly-connected-and-insecure/

    https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/free-vpn-apps-found-to-have-ties-with-russia-and-china-and-theyre-hiding-in-google-and-apples-app-stores
    • “[VPN apps] can (…) pose serious risks because the companies that provide them can read all the internet traffic routed through them. That risk is compounded in the case of Chinese apps, given China’s strict laws that can force companies in that country to secretly share access to their users’ data with the government.”
    • As a rule of thumb, you should avoid unverified free VPN apps, regardless of their ownership, as they can make you vulnerable to all sorts of privacy and security risks – from invasive ad-tracking to malware and even foreign surveillance.

    These articles are been pushed out because of the increased use of VPN's due to Age Verification and people bypassing them.

    #Aras25 | Have your say on the two linked polls? AH & CA
    "There will be a protest vote and absolutely people’s right to do that. There is no intention to take away that right or to stop it in any way." ~ Chair of the Electoral Commission Ms Justice Marie Baker
    "Níl mé toilteanach toil a thabhairt"! 24-09-2025 09:31PM



  • #129
    Enduro
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 3,942 ✭✭✭Enduro


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123748793#Comment_123748793

    These articles are been pushed out because of the increased use of VPN's due to Age Verification and people bypassing them.

    Yup. The non-solution is creating a more serious problem than the issue it was supposed to cure!

    I do wonder about just how low the level of competency is in the likes of the office of the children's commisioner in the UK. I mean, anyone with just the barest level of technical knowledge would be able to work out near instantly that VPNs would be any easy workaround to get past jurisdiction specific age-gating. But yet it's only now that their long-gestated new laws have expensively been put in place that they seem to realise that VPNs are an issue which make their laws utterly and expensively pointless! (And I'd bet these same "geniuses" probably look down on Donald Trump for being someone of low intelligence who somehow rose to high office in spite of that)



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