The European Commission has proposed draft guidelines focused on protecting minors online, emphasizing the importance of balancing safety with privacy and free expression. The EFF has raised concerns that reliance on age verification technologies could lead to surveillance and discrimination. Critics point out that these systems often exclude those without formal IDs and inaccurately gauge age, especially among marginalized groups. While the guidelines aim to safeguard young users, they may also overblock legitimate expression. The EFF advocates for user-empowering approaches and urges the Commission to avoid one-size-fits-all solutions in promoting digital rights for minors.
Online safety for young people must not come at the expense of privacy, free expression, and equitable access to digital spaces.
We remain deeply concerned by the growing reliance on invasive age assurance and verification technologies.
By placing a disproportionate emphasis on age assurance as a necessary tool to safeguard minors, the guidelines do not address the root causes of risks.
Safety matters-but so do privacy, access to information, and the fundamental rights of all users.
Collection
[
|
...
]