Rudxain (talk | contribs)
m link forced-acc
 
(16 intermediate revisions by 9 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{StubNotice}}
{{See also|Age verification|De-anonymization}}
{{See also|Age verification|De-anonymization}}


Forced Identification is the practice of forcing the user to unnecessarily provide their ID in order to access a product or service. The primary concern for forced identification comes from how services neglect to adequately secure this sensitive information for its user base, leading to dangerous security breaches occurring.
Forced Identification is the practice of forcing the user to unnecessarily provide their ID in order to access a product or service. The primary concern for forced identification comes from how services neglect to adequately secure this sensitive information for its user base, leading to dangerous security breaches occurring.


Unlike with traditional consumer protection incidents, Forced Identification is typically caused by governmental laws, such as the UK Online Safety Act, rather than any sort of intentional data collection completed by other companies.
Unlike with traditional consumer protection incidents, Forced Identification is typically caused by governmental laws, such as the ''[[UK Online Safety Act]]'', rather than any sort of intentional data collection completed by other companies.


==How it works==
==How it works==
Line 16: Line 15:
<blockquote>“Any system can be hacked—this is no longer a secret.”
<blockquote>“Any system can be hacked—this is no longer a secret.”


― ''Dan Kaminsky, Security Researcher and DNS Expert''</blockquote>There is no such thing as a system that is unable to be breached,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Aj |first= |date=Sep 7, 2025 |title=Why “Unhackable” Systems Don’t Exist: Lessons from the Frontlines |url=https://osintteam.blog/why-unhackable-systems-dont-exist-lessons-from-the-frontlines-6fd517d117ba |access-date=Oct 22, 2025 |website=osintteam.blog}}</ref> and IDs are a valuable product that malicious actors are incentivized to hijack.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Weissmann |first=Shoshana |date=May 22, 2023 |title=If platforms are required to have your government IDs and face scans, hackers and enemy governments can access them too |url=https://www.rstreet.org/commentary/if-platforms-are-required-to-have-your-government-ids-and-face-scans-hackers-and-enemy-governments-can-access-them-too/ |access-date=Oct 22, 2025 |website=RStreet}}</ref> These 2 facts tend to lead to an increase in attempted security breaches. As an example, in late September 2025, attackers breached [[Discord]]'s 3rd-party customer service portal,<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2025-10-03 |title=Update on a Security Incident Involving Third-Party Customer Service |url=https://discord.com/press-releases/update-on-security-incident-involving-third-party-customer-service |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251006163040/https://discord.com/press-releases/update-on-security-incident-involving-third-party-customer-service |archive-date=2025-10-06 |access-date=2025-10-07 |website=Discord}}</ref> leading to an estimated 70,000 photo IDs for the United Kingdom being stolen from the platform.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hunt |first=Troy |date=2025-10-04 |title=X |url=https://x.com/troyhunt/status/1974558088847102289}}</ref>
― ''Dan Kaminsky, Security Researcher and DNS Expert''</blockquote>There is no such thing as a system that is unable to be breached,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Aj |first= |date=Sep 7, 2025 |title=Why “Unhackable” Systems Don’t Exist: Lessons from the Frontlines |url=https://osintteam.blog/why-unhackable-systems-dont-exist-lessons-from-the-frontlines-6fd517d117ba |access-date=Oct 22, 2025 |website=osintteam.blog}}</ref> and IDs are a valuable product that malicious actors are incentivized to hijack.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Weissmann |first=Shoshana |date=May 22, 2023 |title=If platforms are required to have your government IDs and face scans, hackers and enemy governments can access them too |url=https://www.rstreet.org/commentary/if-platforms-are-required-to-have-your-government-ids-and-face-scans-hackers-and-enemy-governments-can-access-them-too/ |access-date=Oct 22, 2025 |website=RStreet |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260205235858/https://www.rstreet.org/commentary/if-platforms-are-required-to-have-your-government-ids-and-face-scans-hackers-and-enemy-governments-can-access-them-too/ |archive-date=5 Feb 2026}}</ref> These 2 facts tend to lead to an increase in attempted security breaches. As an example, in late September 2025, attackers breached [[Discord]]'s 3rd-party customer service portal,<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2025-10-03 |title=Update on a Security Incident Involving Third-Party Customer Service |url=https://discord.com/press-releases/update-on-security-incident-involving-third-party-customer-service |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251006163040/https://discord.com/press-releases/update-on-security-incident-involving-third-party-customer-service |archive-date=2025-10-06 |access-date=2025-10-07 |website=Discord}}</ref> leading to an estimated 70,000 photo IDs for the United Kingdom being stolen from the platform.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hunt |first=Troy |date=2025-10-04 |title=X |url=https://x.com/troyhunt/status/1974558088847102289}}</ref>


===Loss of privacy===
===Loss of privacy===
Some legal agreements with platforms will allow them to sell user data to 3rd parties, and this may include any legal identification that is given to these companies when signing up. This data can also be given to governments for the purpose of tracking users.
Some legal agreements with platforms will allow them to sell user data to 3rd parties,{{Citation needed|reason=read comment}}<!-- We need to point to a few legal agreements that mention this info --> and this may include any legal identification that is given to these companies when signing up. This data can also be given to governments for the purpose of tracking users.<!-- Citation maybe needed; if you find a decent article talking about this, include it here! -->


===Censorship===
===Censorship<!-- This may need more references added! -->===
Users who are forced to give their ID when using a platform may be forced to see feeds only curated for their region,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-01 |title=Strict Age Verification Laws: Balancing Content Restriction and Educational Rights |url=https://www.thinkacademy.ca/blog/strict-age-verification-laws-impact-k12-education/#:~:text=Impact%20on%20K12,affect%20these%20groups |access-date=2025-09-04 |website=Think Academy}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Kelley |first=Jason |last2=Mackey |first2=Aaron |last3=Mullin |first3=Joe |date=2024-02-15 |title=Don’t Fall for the Latest Changes to the Dangerous Kids Online Safety Act |url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/02/dont-fall-latest-changes-dangerous-kids-online-safety-act |access-date=2025-09-04 |website=Electronic Frontier Foundation}}</ref> as well as have their content specifically moderated more harshly depending on the region's government. This also can lead to methods where VPNs are used to access content that may otherwise be inaccessible in some regions to no-longer be viable. Besides that, dissidents or exiles of certain authoritarian countries may face transnational repressions if the databases containing their ID details suffer data breaches.
Users who are forced to give their ID when using a platform may be forced to see feeds only curated for their region,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-01 |title=Strict Age Verification Laws: Balancing Content Restriction and Educational Rights |url=https://www.thinkacademy.ca/blog/strict-age-verification-laws-impact-k12-education/#:~:text=Impact%20on%20K12,affect%20these%20groups |access-date=2025-09-04 |website=Think Academy |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251021043327/https://www.thinkacademy.ca/blog/strict-age-verification-laws-impact-k12-education/ |archive-date=21 Oct 2025}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Kelley |first=Jason |last2=Mackey |first2=Aaron |last3=Mullin |first3=Joe |date=2024-02-15 |title=Don’t Fall for the Latest Changes to the Dangerous Kids Online Safety Act |url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/02/dont-fall-latest-changes-dangerous-kids-online-safety-act |access-date=2025-09-04 |website=Electronic Frontier Foundation |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260222141612/https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/02/dont-fall-latest-changes-dangerous-kids-online-safety-act |archive-date=22 Feb 2026}}</ref> as well as have their content specifically moderated more harshly depending on the region's government. This also can lead to methods where [[wikipedia:Virtual_private_network|VPNs]] are used to access content that may otherwise be inaccessible in some regions to no-longer be viable. Besides that, dissidents or exiles of certain authoritarian countries may face transnational repressions if the databases containing their ID details suffer data breaches.


==Examples==
==See also==
*[[Forced account]]
*[[Anti-privacy legislation]]


===Legal acts<!-- Make sure all articles linked here are bluelinked! -->===
==External links==
 
*[https://action.freespeechcoalition.com/age-verification-bills/all "Every age verification bill targeted at “material harmful to minors” introduced after 2021"]''FSC Action Center''
*Australia [[Online Safety Amendment]]
*[https://action.freespeechcoalition.com/age-verification-resources/global-age-verification-policies "Global Age-Verification Policies"]''FSC Action Center''
*Canada [[Protecting Young Persons from Exposure to Pornography Act]]
*United Kingdom [[UK Online Safety Act|Online Safety Act]] (OSA)
*EU [[Digital services act]] (DSA)
*United States:
<!--sorted by date came into affect -->
**[[US Kids Online Safety Act]] (KOSA)
**[[US SCREEN Act]]
**[[Louisiana SB 162]]
**[[Utah SB 287]]
**[[Virginia SB 1515]]
**[[Mississippi HB 1126]]
**[[Arkansas SB 66]]
**[[Texas HB 1181]]
**[[Montana SB 544]]
**[[North Carolina HB 8]]
**[[Idaho HB 498]]
**[[Kansas SB 394]]
**[[Indiana SB 17]]
**[[Alabama HB 164]]
**[[Nebraska LB 1092]]
**[[Oklahoma SB 1959]]
**[[Tennessee SB 1792]]
**[[Florida HB 3]]
**[[South Carolina HB 3424]]
**[[Michigan SB 190]]
**[[Georgia SB 351]]
**[[South Dakota HB 1053]]
**[[Wyoming HB 43]]
**[[Kentucky HB 278]]
**[[North Dakota HB 1561]]
**[[Arizona HB 2112]]
**[[Ohio HB 96]]
 
===Platforms with forced identification<!-- Please organize this list in this format: - [company]: [region 1], [region 2], [region 3], etc.  To save space, if multiple countries in a given region is doing this, group them together! For example, if Germany, France, Sweden, and more have forced ID laws, and Reddit follows them, you can display it as: - Reddit: EU -->===
 
*[[Bluesky]]: United Kingdom, various states of America
*[[Discord]]: United Kingdom
*[[Google]]: United Kingdom, United States
*[[Spotify]]: United Kingdom
 
===Incidents involving forced identification<!-- Please keep summaries brief! -->===
 
*[[Discord]]: Customer service portal had a breach that led to an estimated 70,000 UK IDs stolen.<ref name=":2" />
*[[Bluesky]]: Blocked users from Mississippi.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Perez |first=Sarah |date=2025-08-24 |title=Bluesky blocks service in Mississippi over age assurance law |url=https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/24/bluesky-blocks-service-in-mississippi-over-age-assurance-law/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250824210934/https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/24/bluesky-blocks-service-in-mississippi-over-age-assurance-law/ |archive-date=2025-08-24 |access-date=2025-11-05 |website=TechCrunch}}</ref>
*[[Spotify]]: Users will have their account deleted if they fail age verification.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-07-31 |title=Spotify may delete accounts if users fail new mandatory age checks |url=https://www.itv.com/news/2025-07-31/spotify-may-delete-accounts-if-they-fail-new-mandatory-age-checks |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250731160017/https://www.itv.com/news/2025-07-31/spotify-may-delete-accounts-if-they-fail-new-mandatory-age-checks |archive-date=2025-07-31 |access-date=2025-11-05 |website=ITV News}}</ref>
*[[Tea Dating Advice]]: A 4chan post leaked over 72,000 sensitive images, including those with US state IDs.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Maiberg |first1=Emanuel |last2=Cox |first2=Joseph |date=2025-07-25 |title=Women Dating Safety App 'Tea' Breached, Users' IDs Posted to 4chan |url=https://www.404media.co/women-dating-safety-app-tea-breached-users-ids-posted-to-4chan/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250727101532/https://www.404media.co/women-dating-safety-app-tea-breached-users-ids-posted-to-4chan/ |archive-date=2025-07-27 |access-date=2025-07-27 |work=404 Media}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lanz |first=Jose |date=2025-07-25 |title=Tea App That Claimed to Protect Women Exposes 72,000 IDs in Epic Security Fail |url=https://decrypt.co/331961/tea-app-claimed-protect-women-exposes-72000-ids-epic-security-fail |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250727222442/https://decrypt.co/331961/tea-app-claimed-protect-women-exposes-72000-ids-epic-security-fail |archive-date=2025-07-27 |access-date=2025-07-27 |work=Decrypt}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author=u/B_drgnthrn |date=2025-07-27 |title=Is teaspill just the start? |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/ask/comments/1maag7d/is_teaspill_just_the_start/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.ph/jduIg |archive-date=2025-07-28 |access-date=2025-07-28 |work=Reddit}}</ref>


==References==
==References==