Age verification is a privacy nightmare

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Rindala Alajaji | EFF

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May 28, 2026, 12:11:42 PMMay 28

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CLAW BACK YOUR PRIVACY

Protect the Web for Everyone

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Hi Digital Rights Supporter,

In the rush to block young people from certain parts of the internet, lawmakers are creating a privacy and security nightmare for everyone.

This scenario is already playing out globally. Help us stop it and keep the web open and accessible for all.

Join EFF

Even with the best intentions, every online age verification scheme has the same result: users are forced to reveal sensitive personal information to third parties simply to access the web. Once that valuable data is centralized, it becomes an immediate target for leaks, hacks, and misuse. This isn’t hypothetical: it has already happened several times.

By age gating the web, we serve up a honeypot of private info ripe for bad actors. But you can help us stop this when you join EFF.

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Thanks to our members, EFF is on the front lines fighting against online age gating and identity verification online. We’re working with lawmakers to pass better policies, educating the public, and fighting the wildfire of age verification proposals around the world. Now all we need is you.

🐝 No, It’s Not a Bug

We all want young people to be safe online, but we don’t need to trade everyone's digital rights to achieve it. These new restrictive mandates are used to justify government-led censorship and expanded surveillance. That's no accident.

Whether you trust today’s lawmakers or not, handing anyone keys to new forms of censorship and surveillance is a serious risk. Because history shows us that these powers are always abused.

It’s time to demand better. Join EFF today and help us claw back your privacy.

For your freedom online,

Rindala Alajaji

EFF Associate Director of State Affairs

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About EFF

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading nonprofit defending online civil liberties. We promote digital innovation, defend free speech, fight illegal surveillance, and protect rights and freedoms for all as our use of technology grows. Find out more at https://www.eff.org.

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