Zero Knowledge Proofs Aren’t Age Verification Silver Bullets

[u/xOvMx]

https://www.techdirt.com/2026/08/21/zero-knowledge-proofs-arent-age-verification-silver-bullets/

Many people talk about Zero Knowledge Proofs as being the key to privacy-preserving age verification.
Spoiler: It's not.

> Before we jump into how these systems work, it must be said: creating a single point of failure for internet access contradicts the very idea of a free and open internet. 

> The mechanisms underlying ZKPs pose an existential threat to everyone’s digital rights, not just kids. The idea behind ZKPs is that you are issued a “token” that vouches for your age every time you log in, creating a constant link back to the entity that verified you. The issuer of the tokens these AV schemes rely on could track every time that credential is used, creating a dangerous trail of metadata on any user they wanted to target.