I assume you're in contact with the EU commission. Now, first let me say the EU wallet likely has legit uses. However, it seems to be also intended to be used for strict age verification soon. That seems to involve platforms that can't ensure "high level of privacy, safety and security for minors on their service" (this is a [literal quote](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=OJ:C_202505519)) no longer allowing participation without a gov id. That sounds like it'd essentially affect **all platforms that allow any controversial and reasonably unfiltered debate.** [See the full EU commission guidelines for this seeming to be the actual plan.](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=OJ:C_202505519) What do you think the [StaSi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stasi) would have thought of controlling a majority of public discourse in the country with a gov id? (You may say "we anonymized it", but I'll get to that later.) > "Comrades, we must know everything!": Erich Mielke's message was clear. \[...\] he oversaw the systematic surveillance of its citizens. > > Stasi informants could potentially be found anywhere, \[...\] Their task was to detect people labeled as "harmful" to society. In the eyes of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) regime, this included anyone who criticized the system and cooperated with the so-called "class enemy." > > \[...\] For the Stasi secret police, which was founded in 1950, anything could arouse suspicion: From a joke about the chairman of the State Council, to listening to non-conformist music, to receiving letters with stamps from the West, or asking for a visitor's permit to enter West Germany. \[...\] Stasi officials would spy on people by reading their mail, wiretapping their calls and illegally entering their apartments. They would intimidate people and spread rumors — that they were alcoholic, or gay, for instance — to discredit them. Source: https://www.dw.com/en/east-germany-spy-agency-stasi-surveillance/a-73491436 This was reportedly ongoing in [East Germany](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Germany) until as recently as 1990, merely 36 years ago. - [Fascism in Europe seems to be on the rise](https://romaforeurope.org/work/articles/roma-holocaust-how-fascism-became-normalised-in-europe). You might be handing fascists the perfect tools to identify and terrorize "undesirable" citizens. - [The use of age checks to "protect the children" seems heavily disputed](https://www.techdirt.com/2026/01/21/two-major-studies-125000-kids-the-social-media-panic-doesnt-hold-up/), it seems at best unclear if children will actually be helped much by this. - ["Zero Knowledge Proof" appears to be window dressing](https://pluralistic.net/2025/08/14/bellovin/), because the user likely will be unable to tell from using the app whether the separation of involved behind-the-scene entities that results in the privacy preservation is still in place. **The anonymity of the EU age check plan seems at best brittle, at worst likely short-lived.** - UK's similar risk-based gradual age verification seems to be going horribly, apparently [leading to effective suppression of reporting and discussions of ongoing genocide](https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2025/11/6/britain-calls-it-safety-it-is-censorship) and [bans of alcohol addiction and sexual abuse support](https://labourlist.org/2025/08/online-safety-act-labour-government-age-verification/). - Many especially vulnerable parts of the population may not even have a government id, for example immigrants as well as [trans people](https://www.techpolicy.press/age-verification-is-locking-trans-people-out-of-the-internet/). - Apparently even [VPN bans seem to be on the table now](https://cyberinsider.com/eu-calls-vpns-a-loophole-that-needs-closing-in-age-verification-push/). - The attempts of legislation being well-meaning doesn't reduce the harms of the effects. The [AfD](https://solidarity.net.au/international/germany-mainstream-parties-fuel-the-rise-of-fascist-afd/) is now the [most popular party](https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-far-right-afd-lead-survey/) in Germany. Do you really want to hand them the deanonymization of most of the online discourse? Is that really what we're doing?