Hi, cybersecurity guy here. Some of you have already seen it (Americans) and others may continue to see it pop up based on other nation states' legislation. This is happening, now, primarily due to state laws being passed in response to the United Kingdom's Online Safety Act of 2023. Because of that bill, many nations have swooped in to try to allegedly collect as much data off of people as possible, and that includes US States. This is thankfully not federal, which would be way worse. Likewise, it is not entirely enforced yet, only through attorney generals usually. What states in the United States are currently effected, and what are the laws? The current states have these laws in place, and are probably why you're seeing the pop up: - Virginia - § 59.1-577.1 with 16 years and younger being limited to 1 hour a day on social media; there is no criminal punishment to users, solely through attorney generals and the sites themselves. Age verification with AI given. In effect since Jan. 1st. - Nebraska - Legislative Bill 383 which is age verification and parental consent in certain things. - New York - SAFE for Kids Act, with age verification and algorithm controls. July 1st is when it'll be in effect. - Florida - HB3 with age verification and parental consent in certain things (currently being challenged and blocked) - Colorado - HB24-1136 with usage warnings and fines for underage using social media past certain times, and age verification. In effect since Jan 1st. States trying to pass laws like this include Tennessee, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Ohio, Utah, and Minnesota, however California and Georgian laws have been struck down entirely so far. SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOU AND YOUR PRIVACY? Your data and activity is actively being collected by social media sites, and now Scratch, to verify your age and to restrict aspects based on age; this is being done in compliance to these laws, I doubt ST wants to do this. The data collected is not deleted and instead stored, which does leave it open to be breached in cyber attacks as we've seen numerous times. IS YOUR DATA AT RISK FOR SAYING STATE ALONE? No. It is not. All it does is help legislators figure out who and where you are easier, and what laws to apply, though IPv4 already shows your general location (every website already gets this, this is internet basics). This data is also not that important, and isn't stored heavily. Attacks usually focus on ID, emails, faces, and passwords and other personal information rather than location. WHAT CAN YOU DO TO COMBAT THIS? Proxies and VPNs are the biggest choice right now if you want all activity trafficked and monitored elsewhere, though that won't remove the data collected from an account SOLELY. If you are prompted for age verification, DO NOT GIVE THEM ANYTHING. That is what is usually found in breaches. If you feel the need to age verify, use video game characters as AI can not distinguish reality between video game characters for some funny reason. Use characters from games like Red Dead Redemption for the best effect. if you have ANY questions, let me know, I'm studying cybersecurity for a reason. Read the new Scratch guidelines; if you want a skim, look at this project:
