#603: How Age Verification Threatens Your Online Privacy

Big thanks to ThreatLocker for sponsoring my trip to Black Hat USA 2026 and also for sponsoring this video. To start your free trial with ThreatLocker please use the following link: https://www.threatlocker.com/davidbombal

Age verification is spreading across the internet. It promises to protect children, but what happens when accessing a website or using your own device requires facial recognition, identity documents or third-party verification?

David speaks with Alexis Hancock from the Electronic Frontier Foundation about the growing privacy risks surrounding age verification and digital ID systems. They examine how these technologies could threaten online anonymity, create new surveillance infrastructure and expose sensitive personal information.

Alexis explains why age verification alone does not teach children how to stay safe online, how data brokers and behavioral advertising contribute to the problem, and why banning VPNs or weakening encryption would make everyone less secure.

They also discuss zero-knowledge proofs, facial recognition, encryption backdoors, government surveillance and the danger of building a digital identity system that could be abused by future governments.

Finally, Alexis shares practical ways to protect your privacy, including using encrypted communication, learning from EFF’s Surveillance Self-Defense guides and contacting elected representatives when harmful legislation is proposed.

// Alexis Hancock’ SOCIAL //

LinkedIn: / alexishancock

// EFF Website REFERENCE //

https://www.eff.org/

// David's SOCIAL //

Discord: discord.com/invite/usKSyzb