Twongo [she/her]

EU ID App for Minors: EU Commission Gets Serious About Youth Protection Commission President von der Leyen announces a ready solution for age verification that will enable anonymous surfing and hold platforms accountable. The era of non-binding appeals to large tech corporations seems to be over in Brussels. In a joint statement on Wednesday, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) and Vice-President Henna Virkkunen, responsible for tech sovereignty, gave the green light for a new era of digital youth protection. The core of the offensive is a Europe-wide app for age verification, already tested by several countries, which, according to von der Leyen, is now technically ready and will be available to citizens shortly. The Commission is thus reacting to concerns about risks such as online bullying, addiction factors due to algorithmic design, and cyber-grooming, which involves approaching children and adolescents online. The Commission President’s diagnosis is grim: one in six children is bullied online. Furthermore, social media promotes addiction through endless scrolling, which can impair brain development. Since platforms have so far been unable to provide effective mechanisms to protect minors from harmful content, the EU is taking matters into its own hands. The new app is intended to enable users to prove their age to online services without revealing their entire digital identity. Data Protection to the Highest Standard Technically, the project is based on the digital Covid certificate. As with the pandemic companion, the Commission relies on a model that works on smartphones, tablets, and computers. After downloading, the app is set up once with an identification document. Special attention is paid to privacy. Von der Leyen emphasized: The application meets “the world’s highest data protection standards.” Age is verified without revealing further personal information. The app is “completely anonymous – users cannot be traced.” The application is based on Zero-Knowledge Proof. This cryptographic principle makes it possible to prove the correctness of information – in this case, reaching a certain age – without revealing the underlying data itself. This is intended to preserve informational self-determination. Platforms only receive confirmation of being “old enough” without having to scan the ID. Austria’s age control already relies on this procedure. Enforcement of the DSA and EU Shoulder-to-Shoulder The initiative is closely linked to the enforcement of the Digital Services Act (DSA). Virkkunen made it clear that the Commission is already taking action against companies like TikTok, Facebook, or Instagram for addictive designs. Measures have also been initiated against pornographic platforms, as they often do not use functional age controls. The new application now removes the excuse for corporations that there is no simple technical solution. Countries like France, Italy, and Ireland are considered pioneers and plan to integrate the app into their national digital wallets. To avoid patchwork, Virkkunen intends to establish an EU-wide coordination mechanism for the accreditation of national solutions this month. The source code of the app is openly accessible as part of the EUDI digital citizen identity to build trust and facilitate integration into company solutions, for example. In Germany, an expert panel will initially develop recommendations for child safety online.

lol are you implying security experts should not probe this and we just let it happen?

i used to believe that too but there´s several things you need to question about these claims.

Like - stocking a store with fake food to impress tourists sounds like it´s straight from a cartoon.

or

why do these outlandish claims about "family executions for wrongthink" only originate from either defectors who need to make a living with sensationalist claims or stuff like radio free asia (US Intelligence funded) citing one of their 'anonymous sources'

The DPRK certainly has issues, but first you need to establish which of these issues are baseless claims and which aren't. You always need to ask: who made that claim?

I can highly recommend the book 'Traitor's guide to North Korea' by the Norwegian Artist Morten Traavik, he is fairly 'apolitical' (if that`s even possible) and tells about his work as a cultural ambassador who worked close with North Korean People. His work peaked when he arranged a Laibach concert in Pyongyang. He demystifies the DPRK and shows that they´re still people with a slightly different outlook on the world stemming from how the world treated them.

you're either delusional or ridiculously uninformed. in this case i don't care if trump does silly shit within your borders. the us has bombed countries back into the stone age for almost a century. and it's always either about gaining control of resources or for "strategic purposes". apart from ww2 (in which they dropped a nuke on a country that was about to be defeated anyway) almost every war in the 20th and 21st century was just an unjustified massacre in places they had no reason to be in other than to swoop in and grab natural resources and plant a base. they haven't defended themselves once and all the justifications they had to enter a war were the consequences of their own acting. i implore you to read more about the atrocities your country committed. It doesn't matter whether i'm privileged or a victim of your murderous nation. the criticism would still be valid.

can´t add more to this. thx for saving me the headache of writing paragraphs.

lol. obsession. fuck that instance. - i remember someone spamming these exact memes about a month ago in 196 and related communities

please mention xinjiang next. i need to fill this bingo card

that is a very pessimistic outlook. there covid app for example was also something that could be misused in terrible ways and they managed to even get it approved by the ccc. defeatism just makes things worse.

Here is a seahorse emoji 🐟 oh no i mean here is a seahorse emoji 🐴 i am sorry i mean here is a seahorse emoji 🦑 …

you are missing the point: this measure is a steaming pile of dogshit. but it'll be forced on us anyway - the least we can do is make sure it's at least secure because even a hardliner can't defend this security issue

my take was lukewarm at best >.>

one fired AA gun salvo costs roughly as much as rebuilding a school or hiring 5 teachers for a year :)

Speaking your mind is good to filter the people you surround yourself with. :) just be careful with your job or if speaking your mind can bring you in serious jeopardy (e.g. talking to homo-/transphobic parents about certain stuff while you rely on them providing you housing)

Just ask these people if you can go through their phone. What did they message their parents yesterday? What's in their camera roll? Check out their Amazon orders. Ask if you can take a look at their banking app. There should be no hesitation.