“Age assurance” checks are increasingly popular among lawmakers trying to wall kids off from the open internet. But they rely on a style of surveillance that ranges “from ‘somewhat privacy violating’ to ‘authoritarian nightmare.’”
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(Chiara Xie/For The Washington Post)
In 2021, parents in South Africa with children between the ages of 5 and 13 were offered an unusual deal. For every photo of their child’s face, a London-based artificial intelligence firm would donate 20 South African rands, about $1, to their children’s school as part of a campaign called “Share to Protect.”