Collection talk:Electronic identification

Proposed eID

Australia

• Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024 will take effect by December 2025 - https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-us/industry-regulation/social-media-age-restrictions
  • "The onus is on the applicable service providers to introduce systems and processes that ensure people under the minimum age cannot create or keep a social media account."
  • A social media ban in Australia for children under 16 is first in the world - https://www.reuters.com/technology/australia-passes-social-media-ban-children-under-16-2024-11-28/

United Kingdom

UK Digital ID scheme (also known as the “BritCard” or “Brit Card”) will be introduced amid widespread opposition, with the prime minister confirming that the mandatory ID – containing citizens’ photos, names, dates of birth, nationalities, and residency status – will come into use by July 2029. The government said the ID will be stored in a digital wallet on citizens’ smartphones. - https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/26/keir-starmers-plan-for-digital-ids-risks-creating-an-enormous-hacking-target It applies to all UK citizens and legal residents (not just foreigners), requiring use for right-to-work checks when starting a new job, though people will not need to carry or routinely show it in everyday life.

"Physical alternatives are available for those without smartphones." - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/digital-id-scheme-explainer/digital-id-scheme-explainer

EU

Spain

• Spain to introduce age-verification for accessing porn this year - https://www.euronews.com/next/2024/07/05/spain-to-introduce-age-verification-for-accessing-porn-by-fall
  • The Cartera Digital Beta “wallet” will be a mobile app that stores an “adult age credential” issued by the Spanish government after analysing the user’s ID card stored in the system.
• "Technical delays and security reviews by the Centro Criptológico Nacional pushed it past planned summer 2024 rollout, with March 2025 reports confirming ongoing beta testing and no launch date." - https://www.biometricupdate.com/202505/spains-digital-wallet-to-be-included-in-eu-age-assurance-app-pilot-project

Proposed regular ID

An initial measure paving the way for potential mandatory electronic identification in the future.

EU

"France, Germany and Britain and U.S. states including Utah and Texas have drafted laws requiring porn sites to verify a user is 18 or older. Methods could include checking credit cards or government-issued ID or scanning faces to estimate ages, but all those systems have raised concerns about privacy and discrimination." - https://apnews.com/article/porn-websites-age-verification-digital-services-act-64584aae905cb344dd3e1bfb385c7c27

Sweden

• Sweden’s Social Democrats want EU ID verification to fight social media trolls - https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/swedens-social-democrats-want-eu-id-verification-to-fight-social-media-trolls/

USA

From https://action.freespeechcoalition.com/age-verification-bills/ "In 2022, Louisiana passed a law requiring the use of age verification on websites that contain a “substantial portion” (33.33%) of adult content. Websites must utilize commercial age verification systems that check a user’s government identification or “public or private transactional data” to confirm that a user is at least 18 years old.

Louisiana’s law sparked a flurry of copycat legislation to be introduced in state houses around the country. Eight of those bills passed in 2023."

External links

• Social media age verification laws by country (Wikipedia)