It's good that there are strong reactions to dystopian work like this.
It's solving a problem that doesn't need to be solved using a solution that's fraught with risks.
The authors chose to spend their time helping governments censor information, removing choice from individuals, and the solution they choose to work on is a bad one. Any criticism they receive is well-deserved.
There are already age check requirements to do things like buy liquor online. Today, that requires uploading your ID, so the service provider gets a lot more information than just that you're above a certain age. The existence of this new way to prove your age without giving away a bunch of other information does not "[help] governments censor information" in any reasonable way.
You replied after I had updated the comment to provide said evidence.
Adding to what I said earlier, this isn't even an app that any EU member state will use. It's just a PoC, as it says in the README. https://github.com/eu-digital-identity-wallet/av-app-android...
Unfortunately for the authors, the pitch forks are already out, and the mob is on the march. It's too bad that HN is contributing to it.
It's good that there are strong reactions to dystopian work like this.
It's solving a problem that doesn't need to be solved using a solution that's fraught with risks.
The authors chose to spend their time helping governments censor information, removing choice from individuals, and the solution they choose to work on is a bad one. Any criticism they receive is well-deserved.
There are already age check requirements to do things like buy liquor online. Today, that requires uploading your ID, so the service provider gets a lot more information than just that you're above a certain age. The existence of this new way to prove your age without giving away a bunch of other information does not "[help] governments censor information" in any reasonable way.