EU's 'Anonymous' Age-Check App Draws Fire: Telegram CEO Warns of Surveillance Slippery Slope

A new European Union tool designed to verify a user's age online is facing sharp criticism from Telegram founder Pavel Durov, who contends the system is a flawed first step toward pervasive digital tracking. The warning comes just days after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the app was technically ready for deployment, touting its ability to confirm a user is over 18 without collecting personal data.

Durov, a vocal proponent of digital privacy, pointed to an analysis by security consultant Paul Moore, who claims the app's design allows it to be compromised in under two minutes. Moore stated the system could be manipulated to decouple the age verification from a specific user or device, setting the stage for a significant data breach.

In a post on his platform, Durov argued the security weaknesses extend beyond the immediate function. He suggested the app's inevitable vulnerabilities could later be used as a pretext to introduce more comprehensive identity verification across European online services. "The EU bureaucrats needed an excuse to silently start turning their 'privacy-respecting' age verification app into a surveillance mechanism," Durov wrote.

The Commission developed the framework as an open-source project, intending it to be a privacy-preserving component that could eventually work with forthcoming EU Digital Identity Wallets. However, the immediate technical objections from researchers cast doubt on whether the system can deliver on its promise of anonymity in practice. The dispute highlights the growing tension between regulatory efforts to protect minors online and the technical challenges of building secure, limited-scope digital identity tools.

Source: CoinTelegraph