How can zero knowledge tools help us to verify age and protect privacy online

In June, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that he would prohibit social media for children under the age of 15, saying: “The platforms have the ability to verify age. Let’s do that.”

We all have seen how this “verification” actually seems: “I am more than 18 years old.” One click, and you are in. This is how the Internet currently protects the palace. It is laughing, so that you realize that this system fails millions of children and adolescents every day.

In the United States, Andrew Ferguson, Chairman of the Federal Trade Committee, highlighted this insufficient deficit, describing the “little or non -extent” birth date to reach below the legal age.

This acceptance from one of the higher organizations confirms what many have known for a long time: the current systems around the world fail our children.

The other party can be worse. Platforms that require age verification often require personal documents and storing them in databases that have become high -value goals for bad actors. In December, Signzy, a well -known main provider, suffered from an attack from malware displaying customer data, including identification and vital measurements to take personal photos.

Likewise, in January, a massive data breach of the PowerSchool Education Technology provider has been at risk of 60 million students. Such events are clear indicators of systemic gaps.

Exposing personal data that can be determined can lead to the leadership of bad actors to the threshold of children, youth and family members, and contrary to what is supposed to achieve the requirements of age verification.

Today’s age verification tools are not designed for the digital era. The application of the risk management procedures that focus on financial (such as “KNOW-Your-CTOMER”) is on social and dangerous platforms.

When sensitive documents are loaded and stored on third -party servers, data violations are not a matter if, just when.

For children and families, this is unacceptable. For developers and platforms, it creates huge legal and regulatory challenges. For society, we miss an opportunity to implement real protection that respects privacy.

We have fallen into a wrong choice: either there is no protection at all or a lot of weak observation. But we no longer choose between these two failures. Identity protocols, zero knowledge, remove this mutual uniqueness by enhancing security, privacy and user experience.

A person’s encryption technology allows someone to prove that something is correct without revealing basic information.

Think about it that it explains that you are old to enter a place without showing your identification or revealing your name. The sports guide confirms that you meet the requirements.

This approach enables users to demonstrate their life to encrypt without exposing other sensitive information. For example, they can emphasize that they are more than 18 years without revealing their exact date or other features that can be determined beyond what is necessary.

The process generally includes some of the main stages. Initially, the user interacts with his knowledge of the government through a safe application, often on a smartphone. This reaction allows the extraction of the necessary data directly from the safe elements of the document.

After that, an encryption guide is created. This guide is a mathematical assertion that the user meets a specific life standard (for example, more than 18). Decally, this guide does not have the same personal identification information; It only emphasizes the fact that a lifetime claims.

This privacy guide can then share with an online service or platform.

The statute is validated by the validity of the proof and its suitability using encryption techniques, which confirms the qualification of the user’s age without accessing or storing basic personal data from the identifier. The statute learns only if the user is old enough.

The major technology companies are already aware of the capabilities. Google has announced that it merges the technique of proving zero knowledge into Google Wallet to check age, with partners like Bumble already on the plane.

The developers can integrate the zero -age verification into their applications through open source libraries and verification contracts.

These systems are verified by the encryption guide and confirming whether the user meets the minimum specified for life, all without storing or even seeing the full user identity.

Programming these systems are essential for global publishing. Zero -knowledge protocols can automatically adapt to local regulations (for example, 16, 18 or 21) while maintaining the same privacy guarantees.

Consider how to convert this technology the real world platforms.

Games that meet users fulfill the requirements of age without collecting copies of identity. Dating applications confirm the real ages of users without access to other personal information.

The ripe portal platforms on the basis of proving encryption instead of self -reported information or storing weak documents.

This is the first protection of privacy, implemented by code and benefiting from installed encryption techniques. Users maintain full control of their information, and choose what to reveal in each online interaction.

We should not accept that checking the child’s age online requires sacrifice for privacy, or that not doing anything is also acceptable.

The organizational scene is already turning.

A safe york for children has begun to claim platforms using the technique of age identifying and restricting the “addiction” extracts for minors without parents ’approval.

Other legislation, such as Federal Take It Download and Acts at the state level, also indicates a tougher online integrity, although some raise privacy concerns about collecting collective data.

The current age verification methods are also unreliable.

The UK Communications Office fined the Fenix International operator in the United Kingdom approximately about $ 1.4 million to provide inaccurate information about age verification, highlighting how advanced “advanced” biometric systems can fail.

With the development of legislation aimed at protecting minors over the Internet, the technology industry should lead to role models. We can protect vulnerable users without exposing their most sensitive information to bad actors.

We can continue in systems that do not work or create huge special risks, or we can embrace encryption solutions that protect both children and privacy.

Privacy maintaining tools that respect both user independence and legal responsibility can now be accessed. There is no excuse for not building better. Parents deserve peace of mind, and children deserve safety and we all deserve more thinking.

With increased organizational audit and increasing general demand for better protection, the motivation to stay away from ineffective selection boxes and collect invasive data towards real applicable solutions: it’s time to move from the era of the selection box.

Rene Reinsberg is a businessman who participated in the establishment of many projects including CELO, SELF and Locu (which GodDDy has acquired). Jane Khodarkovsky is a precedent for trial and specialized in human trafficking financial in the money laundering and asset recovery department, the criminal department, in the US Department of Justice. She is currently a partner in Arktouros.