UK age verification checks raise privacy concerns under Online Safety Act

I can't check my Bluesky direct messages until I've allowed the Epic Games-owned KWS to look at either my bank card, my ID, or my wizened visage. As I'm based in the UK, it's not just Bluesky I've got to worry about either, with similar verification processes now present on Reddit, Discord, and even my partner's Xbox.

This is all due to the Online Safety Act, which came into effect in the UK last year. The Act was designed in part to ensure children in the UK could not easily access "harmful content," a broad term that includes pornography, content that promotes "self-harm, eating disorders, or suicide," and "bullying." To comply, many platforms have opted for age-gates like the one I'm encountering on Bluesky; almost 70% of Brits surveyed shortly after the Act came into effect said they supported it, though 64% didn't think it would be very effective.

Tensions rose when Discord announced plans for age-verifying facial scans and ID checks globally this March.

United Kingdom

age verification, bluesky, kws, epic games, discord, reddit, xbox, facial scans, id checks, privacy concerns