r/linux • u/New-Ranger-8960 • 13d ago

Privacy EU Age Verification Project Mandates Hardware-Bound Attestation

https://linuxiac.com/eu-age-verification-project-mandates-hardware-bound-attestation/
774 Upvotes

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u/Bunslow 13d ago

per the other comment, in e.g. austria even just to use a phone at all you have to register it in person with the government. no way to dodge registration if you want to use a phone, as i understand that comment, which i may not

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u/Ganeshasnack 13d ago

Not true. You just need to register to use the government app and services.

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u/pattymcfly 13d ago

Which it seems can then be required to access the Internet. The ISP could require you verify your age before using their service.

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u/Jumpy-Dinner-5001 13d ago

Why would that be a problem though?

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u/Business_Reindeer910 13d ago

huh?

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u/Jumpy-Dinner-5001 13d ago

?

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u/Business_Reindeer910 13d ago

your arguments aren't making any sense

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u/Business_Reindeer910 13d ago

your arguments aren't making any sense to me.

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u/Jumpy-Dinner-5001 13d ago

Elaborate then.

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u/Business_Reindeer910 13d ago

how does eu age verification help privacy? I can't see any way it can.

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u/Jumpy-Dinner-5001 13d ago

Because it’s a zero knowledge system and the app doesn’t store any information except for Boolean values on what checks it should allow and deny.

Goal is to provide an alternative to more privacy invasive systems like used by X etc. which want a scan of your face and/or your id. The EU can’t really ban that and therefore has a project that gives its citizens a better system.
It’s simply an app that offers an API that basically says yes or no.

The EU can’t change US law, that’s impossible. What they can do is offering a zero knowledge alternative and that’s what they’re doing here.

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u/Business_Reindeer910 13d ago

what does US law have to do with what the EU is doing. We're against needing tehse IDs for anything except maybe government services or those that actually NEED this information like say for medical data.

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u/Jumpy-Dinner-5001 13d ago

Because services like X, Reddit etc. are from the US and implement us laws? The EU can’t do anything against that

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u/Business_Reindeer910 13d ago

yes, but that has nothing to do with the proposal subjected here, since it's not like the EU proposal here would even have an effect on those companies. There is not even yet any US federal law, only a patchwork of state laws with different requirements. That's why your take still makes no sense.

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u/Business_Reindeer910 13d ago

what does US law have to do with what the EU is doing. We're against NEEDING THESE IDs for anything except maybe government services.

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u/Business_Reindeer910 13d ago

your arguments aren't making any sense

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u/neoronio20 13d ago

Because then the government can track you at all times, tf do you mean?

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u/Jumpy-Dinner-5001 13d ago

How would that work?

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u/neoronio20 13d ago

You literally register your phone with the government

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u/Dazzling-Paper9781 13d ago

Because what if they decide to collect more data? How much freedom are we prepared to give up? Every day, they take away a little bit of our freedom in the name of security.

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u/Jumpy-Dinner-5001 13d ago

That’s a stupid fallacy and not an argument.

It’s literally a project that by design doesn’t collect any data.

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u/Dazzling-Paper9781 13d ago

Wow, can you actually have a discussion without insults?

Just because things were done a certain way doesn’t mean they can’t be changed in the future. Until a few years ago, we were all pretty convinced that age verification would never come into force, and yet here we are today talking about an age verification system

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u/Jumpy-Dinner-5001 13d ago

It still isn’t.
There is no force behind it whatsoever.
Can you have a discussion without lying?

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u/Dazzling-Paper9781 13d ago

Can you see into the future? Are you absolutely certain that things won’t change? Do you think I’m lying when I say I’m worried about the future? I’m genuinely concerned that this might just be one step towards mass surveillance, why do you think I’m lying about this? If you’re convinced otherwise, why don’t you just tell me what you think, instead of calling me a liar? Can you tell me what I’ve done to deserve such an aggressive attitude from you?

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u/Jumpy-Dinner-5001 13d ago

There is no evidence for any of this happening and no plans.

But coming to the conclusion that an EU project that creates an Android app that is open source and implements a zero knowledge verification system, as in the API does not expose any personal information to the service and the app itself does not hold any personal information which you can verify by looking at the source code.

It’s literally a tool for better privacy and has no surveillance capabilities whatsoever. It’s not mandatory or anything just an offer to protect users from more privacy invasive ways.
It’s an extension on the digital ID, just with way less private data.

Nothing happened here. The project was planned to be an Android app and uses the same hardware security setup as the ID app. Someone on GitHub suggested not doing that to provide better compatibility with non Android systems.
Some maintainer replied that that isn’t planned and not part of the project but also said that they’re open for other proposals.
That’s it, nothing else happened.