I’d rather stop watching YouTube than upload my ID

YouTube has been gradually expanding its AI age-estimation operations in the US over the past few months. It started in July, with the announcement that the platform would require users who didn’t seem sufficiently adult to verify they’re over the age of 18 before accessing all of what the platform has to offer. This month, yet more users got caught in YouTube’s age verification net.

I’m on YouTube a lot: There aren’t many other places where I can get world news, live music performances, video game reviews, and in-depth explainers on how air conditioning works all in one spot. But YouTube’s invasive age estimation and verification practices are part of a troubling and growing trend — one that could drive me off the platform entirely.

If YouTube’s systems guess that you’re under the age of 18, it’ll turn on restrictions that prevent you from seeing certain types of content on the platform. YouTube uses a pretty wide variety of signals from across your Google account, including the age of your account, the types of searches you’re making, the types of videos you’re watching, and which apps you’ve downloaded, to make this estimation.

Certain types of content aren’t allowed on YouTube at all, but plenty of what YouTube does offer is easy to categorize as inappropriate for kids. The platform doesn’t expressly forbid all content that contains violence, nudity, dangerous stunts, or profanity, and typically flags those types of videos as being adult-oriented, hiding them from accounts owned by minors.

But YouTube’s age estimation system seems prone to false positives. Reddit is chock full of reports of YouTube erroneously flagging adult users as minors and slapping content restrictions on their accounts. To lift these restrictions, users must verify their age to YouTube. You can do that by uploading a copy of a government ID showing your age, supplying a selfie for age analysis, or turning over details for a credit card with your name on it. Many users who’ve been faced with the choice are uncomfortable handing over any of this information, and I don’t think they’re wrong in that feeling.

These verification methods are invasive. Uploading your ID to a website isn’t the same as flashing it to a store clerk to buy a six-pack; in the case of YouTube and other online platforms, handing over your ID involves sending images of the document to be hosted in a place where you have no control of them.

Earlier this year, YouTube told Ars Technica that it doesn’t save data from any user’s “ID or Payment Card for the purposes of advertising,” but as Electronic Frontier Foundation Civil Liberties Director David Greene put it to the publication, “I think we can assume that means it will be retained for other purposes.” Google’s got a good track record when it comes to keeping user data locked down, but past performance doesn’t guarantee future results — and now it seems possible that a major breach could leak scans of YouTube users’ government IDs. That’s not the type of info you want in the hands of bad actors.

Anecdotal reports suggest that submitting photos of public figures rather than a real image of yourself may get you out of the appeals process without divulging any personal information. But that isn’t fool-proof, and as time goes on, Google will find ways to strengthen its systems against such workarounds.

YouTube’s position here might seem reasonable at first blush; we all want kids to be safe online. But YouTube’s embrace of age verification is in no small part about compliance with recent legislation. Platforms built on user-generated content are facing mounting pressure around the world to make sure kids don’t venture into more adult-oriented corners: Most states in the US, including my home state of Ohio, have implemented or introduced legislation requiring platforms to verify user age before allowing access to certain types of content.

In the UK, too, online platforms are now obligated to verify user age before granting access to content pertaining to a wide range of topics, including self-harm and eating disorders. (Wired has reported that since the Online Safety Act’s enforcement began over the summer, VPN use in the UK has skyrocketed.)

Gating content about sensitive subjects behind age verification systems can itself do harm to both kids and adults. Minors looking for information on how to navigate difficult situations may find themselves cut off from important resources — and so can adults who aren’t willing to go through YouTube’s age appeal process. Case in point: Redditor Life-Meringue-6396 shared a screenshot showing they were hit with an age verification request on YouTube when trying to view a video on suicide awareness.

As mainstream platforms adopt increasingly stringent age verification, children (and adults who either opt out or can’t verify their identity) will be pushed to increasingly fringe destinations for entertainment and information. No amount of government-mandated corporate surveillance can stop kids from accessing objectionable content. Don’t rely on automated systems to keep your kids safe — talk to them about what they’re doing online.

I’m in my 30s, my Google account is old enough to vote, and I don’t watch many videos that might be construed as kids’ content. Assuming YouTube’s age estimation systems are functioning the way Google intends them to, it seems unlikely I’ll be caught up in the ongoing age verification drama.

Even so, YouTube rolling these measures out broadly adds to a growing precedent for an online future where the platforms we rely on expect to know even more about us than they already do — in many cases, because they’ll be legally obligated to. As it stands today, beginning next year, users in Texas, Utah, and Louisiana will be required to submit to some form of age verification before downloading apps from the Play Store or the iOS App Store. Not just apps that may host adult-oriented content, either; age-verification legislation in these states will apply to most apps available on Android. (The legislation that’ll require that verification is facing pushback, including from Google itself.)

Our names, faces, email addresses, and more are floating around in the ether, waiting to be scooped up by bad actors for some nefarious purpose or other — preserving our privacy or anonymity online might feel like a lost cause. Personally, though, I’m drawing the line at submitting my ID to access entertainment. I watch a lot of YouTube, but push come to shove, I’d drop it altogether before submitting to any of the age-verification methods the platform offers.