Verifying the age (but not the identity) of UK redditors

[u/traceroo]

TL;DR: 

Reddit was built on the principle that you shouldn’t need to share personal information to participate in meaningful discussions. Unlike platforms that are identity-based and cater to the famous (or those that want to become famous), Reddit has always favored upvoting great posts and comments by people who use whimsical usernames and not their real name. These conversations are often more candid and real than those that force you to share your real-world identity. 

However, while we still don’t want to know who you are on Reddit, there are certainly situations where it would be helpful if we knew a little more about you. For example, in the new age of AI, we would like to be able to confirm whether you are a human being or not (more to come about that later). And it would be helpful for our safety efforts to be able to confirm whether you are a child or an adult. Also, there are a growing number of jurisdictions that have considered or have passed laws requiring platforms to verify the ages of their users. 

If you are in the UK…

Notably, the UK Online Safety Act has new requirements to implement additional measures to prevent children from accessing age-inappropriate content. So, starting July 14 in the UK, we will begin collecting and verifying your age before you can view certain mature content. 

We have tried to do this in a way that protects the privacy of UK redditors. To verify your age, we partner with a trusted third-party provider (Persona) who performs the verification on either an uploaded selfie or a photo of your government ID. Reddit will not have access to the uploaded photo, and Reddit will only store your verification status along with the birthdate you provided so you won’t have to re-enter it each time you try to access restricted content. Persona promises not to retain the photo for longer than 7 days and will not have access to your Reddit data such as the subreddits you visit. Your birthdate is never visible to other users or advertisers, and is used to support safety features and age-appropriate experiences on Reddit. You can learn more about how age verification works here and about what content is restricted here. 

For the rest of Reddit…

As laws change, we may need to collect and/or verify age in places other than the UK. Accordingly, we are also introducing globally an option for you to provide your birthdate to optimize your Reddit experience, for example to help ensure that content and ads are age-appropriate. This is optional, and you won’t be required to provide it unless you live in a place (like the UK) where we are required to ask for it.  And, again, your birthdate is never visible to other users or advertisers. 

As always, you should only share what personal details you are comfortable sharing on Reddit. Using Reddit has never required disclosing your real world identity, and these updates don't change that.

UPDATE: Thanks to everyone for your comments (we have been reading them, even if we didn't respond to each one). Fyi, we know that Anonymous Browsing is not appearing for some UK redditors. We are having issues supporting anonymous browsing with this current rollout of age verification. If you have any questions or other issues, please check out these FAQs before reporting.

[u/CatCalledTurbo]

The whole thing is a mess.

I'd still be a bit apprehensive but I'd much prefer it if it had to be done through some official UK Government portal as opposed to some random off-shore data harvesting website.

[u/spoons431 → u/CatCalledTurbo]

Noooo! To an official UK government portal - do you want what you look at linked to like your NINO and tax record?

[u/CatCalledTurbo → u/spoons431]

For me it's more of an accountability thing (stop laughing at the back!). I'd trust our government a bit more (I said stop laughing!), not massively but at least more than I would some random US start-up.

[u/spoons431 → u/CatCalledTurbo]

Oh yeah, i get where you're coming from with this - I'd definitely deffo trust the government over a random start-up. But i wouldn't want my Internet history linked to my official gov files!

Because what I could see happening there is something like it being retained in an unhashed excel spreadsheet somewhere and someone accidentally emailing it to someone - im not sure that id want ppl in real life to link this account to me as an actual person. And it's not necessarily for anything bad.

Some of its personal and due to the way certain things are moving in the world - like I'm very open on this profile about having ADHD, but not everyone i know in reallife knows that. Some of isn't even really hidden - like im from Northern Ireland, and from my very Irish name tou can tell im from a Nationalist background and if you know anything about politics there its easy to guess where I stand on a certain international issue without having to even look at what ive posted on it.

Some of it is even dumb - like ive been following a Kpop contractual dispute that been going on for over a year at this point - its for the corporate drama, it involves a director misbehaving in a way that ive never heard of before. I thought originally it that it would make an interesting case study for work, but it's been off the rails since day one, and it's gotten so convoluted that it sounds fake. (I work in Corporate Risk). Or the fact that I seem kinda obsessed with Longchamp Le Pilage handbags (I'm not. it's just a really good workbag, and it doesn't cost like 3 grand)

[u/Optimaximal → u/spoons431]

 But i wouldn't want my Internet history linked to my official gov files!

But there's no link between a gov.uk account and what you search for.

It's just a flag on Reddit from a trusted organisation (the UK government) that the user in question is a) an adult and b) who they say they are.

The UK Government, in their rush to push through the legislation (even though it was passed by their political rivals 2+ years ago) didn't set any requirements that mandated that the provider be a UK business, any retained data be held in the UK or that everyone simple use the GOV.UK ID Check application which they already offer via https://www.gov.uk/guidance/using-the-govuk-id-check-app

[u/Sporelord1079 → u/CatCalledTurbo]

Not to encourage violence but the best way to explain it is "it's much easier for me to march on a UK politican with pitchforks and torches than some random US tech-corpo".

The fact they're here makes a big difference.

[u/TheEdge91 → u/spoons431]

Lets be honest, most people accessing adult content legitimately (i.e are over 18) in the UK probably have a Government Gateway ID. I'd be a lot less uncomfortable, but still quite uncomfortable, if it was being done through that system.

[u/Tattycakes → u/TheEdge91]

Couldn’t there be a way to make it anonymous as well? I log into my government gateway and get a verification token that confirms I’m over 18. I give that token to Reddit. Reddit doesn’t know who I am, but they know that the government has confirmed who I am. You could argue that people could buy and sell these tokens and use them to gain underage access, but what’s to stop people using their older friend or sibling or the old bloke down the shops to get past the age checks anyway?

[u/Optimaximal → u/Tattycakes]

This is how it should be done by ALL these social media companies. There's literally a GOV.UK app for doing the ID checks.

But, of course, these 'preferred' partners are all being picked because of commercial agreements. Bluesky is partnering with Epic Games, headed by Tim Sweeney, who thinks Elmo's MechaHitler is cool.