Forced Identification: Difference between revisions
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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 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. | ||
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==How it works== | ==How it works== | ||
Forced Identification's functionality varies based on the region it is enforced within and how it is integrated by the company that uses it. Regardless, the result traditionally leads to sensitive information that is stored on servers that may be breached at any moment. | Forced Identification's functionality varies based on the region it is enforced within and how it is integrated by the company that uses it. Regardless, the result traditionally leads to sensitive information that is stored on servers that may be breached at any moment. | ||
The traditional usage of forced identification is for [[age verification]], however there have been other uses as well. | |||
==Why it is a problem== | ==Why it is a problem== | ||
{{ | |||
=== Risk of lost or stolen data === | |||
<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, and IDs are a valuable product that malicious actors are incentivized to hijack. 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 === | |||
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. | |||
=== Censorship === | |||
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. | |||
==Examples== | ==Examples== | ||
* [[ | |||
=== Legal acts === | |||
* The United Kingdom [[UK Online Safety Act|Online Safety Act]] (OSA) | |||
* [[US kids online safety act|US Kids Online Safety Act]] (KOSA) | |||
=== Platforms with forced identification === | |||
* [[Discord]]: United Kingdom | |||
* [[Google]]: United Kingdom, United States | |||
=== Incidents involving forced identification === | |||
* [[Discord]]: Customer service portal had a breach that led to an estimated 70,000 UK IDs stolen.<ref name=":2" /> | |||
* [[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== | ||
{{reflist}} | {{reflist}} | ||
[[Category:Forced Indentification]] | [[Category:Forced Indentification]] | ||
[[Category:Common terms]] | [[Category:Common terms]] | ||