Andy Yen doesn’t mince words. The Proton CEO warns that age verification mandates sweeping U.S. states will transform the internet into a vast ID checkpoint. Adults everywhere, he argues, will surrender personal documents just to browse freely. “We cannot accept a world where every adult is expected to hand over ID as the price of going online,” Yen wrote in a recent blog post, as reported by The Register.
His critique lands amid a flurry of state laws demanding proof of age for online access. California’s AB 1043, set for full enforcement by 2027, requires operating systems and app stores to deliver “age signals” before users launch apps—even offline tools like calculators or note apps. Developers must query these signals on every download and startup, forcing internet connectivity for basic software. Small open-source projects? They’re doomed without corporate-scale resources.
Take Linux distributions. Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch—community-driven efforts with volunteer maintainers—lack centralized APIs for age checks. A Berlin developer crafting a free flashcard app for Linux suddenly faces California law dictating integration with nonexistent infrastructure. “For free and open-source software communities, this isn’t a regulatory inconvenience. It’s an existential threat,” notes analysis from WebProNews.
Illinois pushes harder with SB 3977. This bill blankets social media, messaging, app stores, and more with ID scans, facial estimation, or third-party checks. No carve-outs for wikis or forums. Open-source faces shutdowns or geo-blocks, clashing even with Illinois’ own Biometric Information Privacy Act. System76 CEO Carl Richell calls it a liability dodge. Big Tech offloads blame to OS makers while building surveillance pipelines.
And Big Tech? They’re all in. Meta poured over $20 million into 2024 lobbying, shaping bills with identical language across states—broad “covered platforms,” safe harbors for compliers. Platforms like Meta, Snap, X push verification downstream to Apple, Google, Microsoft. Why? It shields them from lawsuits over harms to minors. “Legislation is designed to protect platforms, not children,” Richell told WebProNews. The result: data stockpiles ripe for hacks, subpoenas, sales.
Discord learned that fast. Hackers snatched government ID photos from 70,000 users via a third-party verifier. Proton’s Yen flags the pattern. “The more sensitive data you stockpile in privately held databases, the bigger a target it becomes for criminals.” Leaks? Inevitable. Anonymity? Dead.
Colorado offers a flicker of hope. Amendments to HB25-1243 may exempt open-source, thanks to Richell’s push. First in the U.S., if passed. It recognizes volunteers can’t shoulder ID mandates. But California’s model spreads. New York’s SAFE for Kids Act demands device-level biometrics. Utah, Texas, Louisiana echo the call. Proton’s thread on X amplifies the dread: “Age verification doesn’t stay limited to age. Once the infrastructure exists, it can be extended: to identity, location, or access itself.”
Yen proposes alternatives. Client-side facial scans. No data storage. End-to-end encryption for yes/no answers. Open-source code for audits. Keep it on-device, discard immediately. Privacy groups agree. The Open Rights Group decries risks to expression, data protection. Yet giants roll out anyway. Anthropic ties ID to Claude personas. Microsoft hits UK Xbox users with checks. Sony mandates for PlayStation. OpenAI guesses ages via AI.
But enforcement looms brutal. AB 1043’s 2027 deadline forces OS overhauls—Apple’s Screen Time adapts easy; Google’s Android fragments across Samsung, Xiaomi; Microsoft’s Windows battles user tweaks; Linux crumbles. Costs skyrocket. Indie devs quit California markets. Innovation stalls. Kids lose early coding experiments—many top programmers started young, Richell notes. “The computer is the most powerful technology we’ve ever created… A platform that controls the user’s activity limits our shared future.”
First Amendment shadows gather. Compelled age queries? That’s forced speech, say critics citing Bernstein v. U.S. and National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra. NetChoice eyes lawsuits, fresh off killing California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code. Electronic Frontier Foundation blasts breaches, surveillance, exclusion of ID-less groups.
Proton’s not neutral—privacy sells their services. Still, Yen’s right on one count. Start with “high-risk” apps. Creep to everything. “With age verification, we’re on the cusp of requiring ID for every single person going online, for any reason.” X chatter echoes: Linux users mock bills rendering their OS “illegal.” Developers vow geo-fencing. The web fractures.
States chase child safety. Big Tech dodges heat. Open-source bleeds. Surveillance hardens. Yen puts it plain: Fix threats without killing anonymity. Otherwise, the open internet becomes a gated enclave. Show papers. Or stay out.
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