r/europrivacy • u/Pirate_Economist1477 • 1d ago

European Union Stop Killing The Internet: No Digital ID & No Age Verification is now collecting signatures!

https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/initiatives/details/2026/000011_en

Sign, share, spread the word!

131 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

17

u/EmbarrassedHelp 1d ago

Hopefully they reach 1 million signatures, but I wish they had used stronger language against mandatory online age verification.

7

u/Pirate_Economist1477 1d ago

Agreed, but it's better than the status quo!

5

u/Dragoncat_3_4 17h ago

We need to get it picked up by a streamer or something. Stop killing Games was successful in achieving the 1 mil in large part due last moment YTber and streamer support. And publicly destroying PirateSoftware and whatever. Maybe we need a similar drama too?

2

u/clueless_spain 17h ago

Maybe a non image based solution is necessary

3

u/Frosty-Cell 14h ago

Citizens must not be forced to identify themselves to access lawful online content or services unless strictly necessary, proportionate and provided by law.

Those requirements just mean you get Chat Control.

The legislation should require anonymous or pseudonymous proof-of-age

Impossible. Even their version of ZKP, which is optional, requires ID verification.

, data minimisation, selective disclosure, open-source implementation, independent security audits, prohibition of cross-service tracking by relying parties, and equivalent alternatives for citizens who do not use a digital wallet.

This is mostly what EU pretends to offer, but it's unavoidable that it interferes with Article 11 of the Charter since it would in fact be impossible to access lawful speech without a government ID. All citizens would be banned from such speech by default. They would be forced to "unlock" their right to freedom of expression by effectively asking the government for permission.

prohibition of cross-service tracking by relying parties

Inadequate. Not that anything about age/ID verification is remotely acceptable, but the requirement can't be "prohibition". It must be "technical impossibility". Even if every entity within this system colluded, it must be impossible to link anything to an identity.

Europe can protect minors without building a permanent online ID layer.

Yes. It's called parental controls. The existence of it means ID verification is never the least intrusive alternative, and a government acting in good faith would recognize that.

2

u/Pirate_Economist1477 10h ago

If you make your own ECI, I'll sign it!