Age verification laws are exploding across the U.S. — and they're coming straight for your privacy.

On February 25, 2026, the FTC dropped a COPPA policy statement that green-lights platforms to roll out aggressive age verification tech — selfies, government IDs, and facial scans — while relaxing enforcement so companies can collect this data without prior parental consent in many cases.

FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Christopher Mufarrige cheered it on: “Age verification technologies are some of the most child-protective technologies to emerge in decades... Our statement incentivizes operators to use these innovative tools.”

The FTC has completely lost the plot.

These rules are forcing everyone — adults and kids alike — to scan their faces, upload IDs, or snap selfies just to browse websites, comment on YouTube, scroll social media, or play games. And it's already hitting the platforms kids actually use:

Roblox now requires facial age estimation (or ID verification for teens) to access chat features, sorting users into age brackets and locking down communication. Popular Roblox YouTuber KreekCraft warned in early March that the flood of lawsuits and child safety probes against Roblox could force even stricter age verification — potentially requiring it just to create an account.
Discord delayed its mandatory global age verification rollout to the second half of 2026 after massive privacy backlash.
In the UK, Minecraft already requires age verification (via ID or facial scan) for adult accounts just to use chat and multiplayer features under the Online Safety Act.
The Scope of the Threat This isn't limited to a few platforms or one bad policy — the push is broad, multi-layered, and accelerating:

Federal level: The App Store Accountability Act (H.R. 3149 / S. 1586) would force Apple, Google, and other app stores nationwide to verify every user's age at account creation and require parental consent for minors' downloads or purchases. Combined with the FTC's new COPPA policy, this creates a national gateway that could mandate biometrics or IDs for millions of apps.
State level: In Maryland, HB1179 (the Consumer Protection - Application Store Accountability Act, introduced February 2026) mirrors the federal push. It requires app stores to verify user age categories using "commercially available methods" and obtain parental consent for anyone under 18 before downloads, updates, or in-app purchases — with an effective date tied to 2026-2027. Similar laws have passed or are advancing in multiple states.
Platform & international spillover: What begins as "chat safety" on Roblox or Minecraft quickly expands. Once rolled out (as seen in the UK), these systems rarely get reversed and set the template for the entire internet.
What started as "protect the children" is quickly turning into mandatory surveillance to participate online at all — from downloading games to basic app access to everyday browsing.

This isn't protection. It's mass biometric surveillance dressed up as child safety.

Biometric age verification is:

Easily bypassed by deepfakes, VPNs, borrowed IDs, or shared accounts.
Dangerously invasive — building massive, hackable databases full of our faces, selfies, and personal data.
Discriminatory — struggling with darker skin tones, elderly users, people with disabilities, or anyone without a smartphone or ID.
A dangerous gateway to censorship — letting governments and platforms quietly block news, opinions, or entire communities.
On March 2, 2026, 371 scientists and researchers from 29 countries signed an open letter demanding an immediate moratorium on these technologies. They warned the systems are ineffective, privacy-destroying, and likely to cause far more harm than good.

The UK's Online Safety Act already proves where this road ends: once facial scans and ID checks roll out, they never get rolled back.

We cannot let the U.S. — or Maryland — follow the same disastrous path. (written by grok)