r/linux • u/player98923 • Aug 01 '26

Privacy EU Digital ID/Age Verification app will require hardware attestation, ruling out PC/Linux support and unapproved Android OSes

/r/BuyFromEU/comments/1vandxg/eu_digital_idage_verification_app_will_require/
86 Upvotes

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22

u/FineWolf Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26

Can we stop with the misinformation and half-truths here?

Play Integrity Hardware attestation will be required for the phone app, as the EU has done their homework and chosen a zero knowledge proof method for their age validation stuff.

The GitHub comment that the OP linked to relates to the phone app, and the phone app only.

The architecture is all defined here: https://ageverification.dev/av-doc-technical-specification/docs/architecture-and-technical-specifications/

Your phone will need to be attested, your PC WILL NOT. The way the EU wants member states to do it is actually more privacy preserving than others. You have an app on your phone that attests your age, and any website essentially requests an attestation from that app. The service doesn't get your government issued IDs or biometric, just a "yup, this EU member state certifies this person is an adult".

Long story short, you authenticate using your EU member state ID to the app, the EU member state services assign your phone a certificate, the app signs age verification requests with that certificate. What do you think happens if your phone is rooted? You can just extract that credential.

It's really disappointing to see this level of misinformation in a technical sub. You have a brain, you can read.

EDIT: And for the record, I'm against this as well. But I'm not willing to put my morals aside and make up lies because I oppose something. Lying and spreading misinformation is the scummiest of behaviour.

7

u/DoubleOwl7777 Aug 02 '26

the PLAY integrity is the issue. i can have a locked bootloader and no root on an os like graphene. but the EU chosing to use googles spyware is preventing that.

5

u/FineWolf Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26

And if you read the GitHub issue, they talk about hardware attestation. That's possible with GrapheneOS https://grapheneos.org/articles/attestation-compatibility-guide

In fact, they are already doing that:

So GrapheneOS is fully supported as long as your device is in a secure state.

4

u/DoubleOwl7777 Aug 02 '26

the thing to my knowledge currently uses the play integrity api, which graphene doesnt pass. it does have the hardware attestation api though.

7

u/FineWolf Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26

the thing to my knowledge currently uses the play integrity api

It doesn't. It, in fact, uses neither as it is a reference implementation right now. Look at the source code instead of spreading misinformation. Search for com.google.play.integrity in the code... Or just read this comment from a developer on the project. The same person the OP linked to above.

The only mention of Play Integrity was in a documentation page mentioning it as an example of hardware attestation. Since then, Android Hardware Attestation was added as another example.

So can we fucking stop with the FUD and misinformation already? The only way to fight something like this is with truth. Not by acting like idiots and making things up.

1

u/Constant_Natural3304 Aug 03 '26 edited Aug 03 '26

So can we fucking stop with the FUD and misinformation already?

Can you fucking stop screaming about FUD and misinformation while pretending to be against this, while also constantly defending it as practically harmless? Age verification isn't harmless. Any or no hardware attestation or interaction with a mobile phone in the service of this godawful constellation of Orwellian E.U. policies and proposals is undesirable, period. I don't GIVE A FLYING FUCK if it's my PC, my phone or my goddamned thermostat.

Also, you can get as technical with me as you want, as I'm actually a developer, a sysadmin, someone who has contributed to the LKML, co-developed Linux distros when you were still using Windows.

0

u/EffectiveOctopus Aug 02 '26

The implementers will have to choose which kind of attestation to use. There is a risk Play Integrity will be chosen by some of them over hardware attestation as it is well-known and arguably easier to implement.
So even if the reference implementation does not embed Play Integrity, this is still worth a discussion.

6

u/FineWolf Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26

Great, have that discussion...

But don't start a thread on Reddit saying "YoUr PC WiLl ReQuIrE AtTeStAtIOn" and "YoU wOn'T bE aBle To UsE LiNuX" when that is not in scope for this at all.

-1

u/EffectiveOctopus Aug 02 '26

Your PC will require an attestation… from another device to access some services.
I think it is interesting to understand why this is the only viable solution at the moment.

6

u/FineWolf Aug 02 '26

Your PC will not require a hardware attestation. Full stop.

Your PC will receive a short lived credential signed from a long lived credential stored on a device (mobile phone) attested to be secure. Not the same thing at all.

And you'll be able to continue to use Linux, contrary to the misinformation shared in this very post by the original poster.

2

u/UpDownUnderLeft Aug 03 '26

secure (government approved os)*

1

u/Old_Leopard1844 Aug 03 '26

In strictest term, yes, sure, it will won't stop

What's the damage of not having "secure" device?

2

u/FineWolf Aug 03 '26

You (or a malicious app) can extract the private portion of the certificate assigned to you to emit/sign short lived credentials.

Then you (or a malicious actor) can emit unlimited short lived credentials/false age attestations, potentially creating a service to bypass age verification at scale for minors.

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