If a website requires me to verify my age, I'll stop using that website. If an app requires it, I'll either stop using that app, or use a VPN, but there's no way in hell I'm doing the verification process.

There are numerous tools already out there for parents to use to monitor and censor what their kids see online. Schools have been using it since the Internet came out and it's only gotten more robust over the years. Not only that, but kids always figure out a way around this shit and will continue to do so until the end of time because that's just what they do. The only thing this does is punish everyone and implement more surveillance. And since people are people and kids are kids, there will be workarounds within days even without a VPN.

I'd prove I'm over 18 by purchasing a VPN subscription.

But bots have no age, haven’t they?

"Persona promises not to retain the photo for longer than 7 days and will not have access to your Reddit data such as the subreddits you visit,"

Why would they need to have it any longer than the few seconds it takes to verify the age?

Look at what Reddit is saying. It's absurd:

For UK users under 18, Reddit said it has to restrict sexually explicit content; content that promotes suicide, deliberate self-injury, and eating disorders; content that incites abuse or hatred against people based upon protected characteristics; bullying content; content that promotes violence or "depicts real or realistic serious violence against a person, an animal, or a fictional creature"; content that promotes challenges or stunts that are likely to cause serious injuries; content that encourages people to use harmful substances or substances in harmful quantities; content that shames people based on body type or physical features; and "content that promotes or romanticizes depression, hopelessness and despair."

WTF? How is this supposed to work? A system that auto-blocks all NSFW tagged content itself as a blunt instrument is viable - but half the stuff on here, on Reddit here isn't even necessarily tagged as NSFW when its posted. Are extreme mountain biking or skiing or skateboarding or other similar types videos going to be age-gated because they could be content that "promotes challenges or stunts that are likely to cause serious injuries"? How do you verify whether or not content specifically romanticises "hopelessness" or "despair" exactly? Are Giles Corey songs now 18+? What does that even mean? Even the writing of it is Orwellian.

It also adds "depicts real or realistic serious violence against a person, an animal, or a fictional creature" ?????

Are action movie clips now going to be age-gated? Or video game clips? From TV shows and films that are PG-13?

They’ll get round to Lemmy eventually.

Nah lol. Old reddit UI and a VPN should work fine, for now at least.

There's already a big flaw in this, and it won't work with teenagers.

If they want to access Reddit, they'll just do something like grab a pic of their grandparent who never uses Reddit, sneak out their ID whilst they're sleeping, and get verification without anyone getting notified.
Sounds extreme but I can just imagine teens doing this without issue. It would be extremely easy.

Gotta put a lot of trust in some third party company not to reveal all the kinky stuff you watch that's tied to your identity.

Governments all around europe are so scared of people communicating.

lemmynsfw.com is a thing.

A few years ago YT suddenly started to enforce their system of not allowing me to watch videos tagged as 18+, my account was 17 years or so old, but I had never verified it, then it ticked over to 18 years old a few months later, and everything works now...

Bruh, I've been 18+ since I was 14! 😁

Also, this is just another way to collect personal data that you'd never willingly give up through normal interaction with their platform.

I have always been 18+ myself