Tag: digital id

Dystopian Rollout Of Digital IDs & CBDCs Is Happening

This isn’t conspiracy; it’s all in their own documentation.

They are building a full-spectrum digital cage, and its two locked doors are Digital Identity and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). You cannot have one without the other.

The plan is to replace your government-issued ID with a Digital ID, but it’s not just a card in your phone. It is fundamentally built upon your immutable biometrics: your fingerprints, the precise structure of your face, the unique pattern of your iris.

This biometric data is the key.

It is the hard link that ties your physical body directly to your digital identity credential.

Your very body becomes your password. The reason this is so critical for them is the financial system. UN & Bank for International Settlements docs overtly state that Digital ID and CBDCs are designed to be integrated.

The system cannot exist without this biometric digital ID.

Why?

Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols.

For this new digital financial system to function, they must absolutely “know” every single participant. Your digital wallet will be tied to your digital ID, which is mapped to your biometrics. Total financial-biological linkage.

We see the prototypes being rolled out now:

  • Sam Altman’s WorldCoin lures people to scan their irises for a “unique identifier” and a digital wallet. This is the exact model.
  • The UN’s “Building Blocks” program forces refugees to scan their iris at checkout to receive food rations. The value is deducted from a wallet tied to that biometric ID.

They justify this total surveillance under the guise of closing the “identity gap,” claiming the world’s poor need digital IDs to access essential services like banking and healthcare.

The reality?

This is the ultimate onboarding mechanism into a system of programmable control, where your access to society and your own money is permissioned and revocable based on your compliance.

This is the bedrock of the new global financial system.

It is not about convenience. It is about control.

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Mississippi’s Digital ID Law Hits a Wall with Mastodon

Mississippi’s privacy-ruining online digital ID law is putting pressure on decentralized platforms, and Mastodon says it simply cannot comply.

The organization behind the software states that it lacks the technical ability to verify users’ ages and refuses to implement IP-based restrictions, which it argues would wrongly affect travelers and those temporarily located in the state.

The law, known as the Walker Montgomery Protecting Children Online Act (HB 1126), has already led to Bluesky withdrawing its service from Mississippi.

Mastodon is not following that path. Instead, it points to the design of its platform, where individual server administrators are responsible for their own compliance with local laws. Mastodon itself neither collects user data nor maintains centralized control over the network.

Although Mastodon’s nonprofit arm initially declined to comment, it later provided a statement to TechCrunch.

The organization explained that while its own servers require users to be at least 16, it does not “have the means to apply age verification” and that the software does not retain any data collected during sign-up.

A feature added in the July 2025 release of Mastodon 4.4 allows server administrators to set age minimums and manage legal terms, but does not support storing verification data.

Each server in the network operates independently. It is up to those server owners to decide whether to integrate third-party systems to check user ages.

Mastodon confirmed it cannot offer “direct or operational assistance” to these operators and instead points them to resources such as the IFTAS library, which provides guidance on trust and safety practices for federated platforms.

The nonprofit reiterated that it does not track user behavior or enforce policy across the wider ecosystem. Responsibility for legal compliance, it says, belongs to those who host and manage the servers in their own jurisdictions.

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Google to Require ID Verification for All Android Developers

Google is preparing to implement a wide-reaching identity verification system for Android app developers, one that could significantly alter how apps are installed and shared across the platform.

This new policy will apply not only to those who publish apps through the Play Store but also to developers distributing their software independently, expanding Google’s role as a gatekeeper over what apps are allowed on Android, even when they aren’t downloaded through Google’s app store.

Without passing Google’s verification process, apps will be blocked from running on the vast majority of Android devices.

Android was once known for its hands-off approach, especially when compared to Apple’s tightly managed ecosystem. That distinction is now fading.

Google says the new system is designed to address security concerns, citing internal data that apps obtained outside the Play Store are 50 times more likely to include malicious software. But this goes far beyond policing its own storefront. Instead, it lays the groundwork for universal control over app distribution from other sources.

Developers will be required to submit their identity information, register their app’s package names, and upload signing keys through a revamped Android Developer Console.

Oddly, Google says it will not review the apps themselves, but the identity requirement will serve as a gateway that blocks installation on certified devices unless it is satisfied. This contrasts with Google’s statement that this is all about security. If security is the main concern, then one would expect Google to actually review the app and its safety, rather than simply demanding a developer ID.

Nearly all Android phones outside China rely on Google’s services, meaning this policy will reach almost every user.

Phones running customized versions of Android that lack Google services will not be affected. However, those devices make up only a small portion of the global Android landscape. For nearly everyone else, unverified apps will simply not work.

This move expands on a policy introduced in 2023, when Google began requiring developer verification for apps on the Play Store.

The company says that the effort led to a sharp decline in scams and malware. It argues that forcing developers outside the Play Store to verify themselves will make Android more secure overall by limiting the ability of anonymous actors to spread harmful software.

Even so, this approach could shrink the space for independent app development. Android users and developers have long relied on the ability to sideload apps or use third-party marketplaces without corporate oversight. Now, even those channels may depend on Google’s approval before users can install anything.

Rollout will happen in phases. Google plans to open early access to the new system in October 2025. Developers worldwide will gain access by March 2026.

The policy will go into effect first in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand in September 2026.

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Gates Foundation: “Digital IDs are an effective tool against poverty”

It looks like we can add another to the growing mountain of problems that digital IDs are going to solve for all of us.

We already know that digital IDs will help counter populism, and illegal immigration, and crime, and benefit fraud, and terrorism, and pandemics.

But they’ll help tackle poverty now as well. That’s according to a report published a few days ago by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation:

Digital IDs are an effective tool against poverty. A global solution is making them available to millions.

I do love “making them available” in that sentence. As if the world is full of people desperately crying out for digital ID that the powers that be have been unable to supply, when the truth is literally the exact opposite of that.

The aim of the report is promoting something they call Modular Open Source Identity Platform (MOSIP), an “adaptable, modular architecture […] that any country could customize to meet its specific needs.”

For the last few years, MOSIP has been trialed in nine different countries across Africa and Asia, with over 90 million people signing up, the report calls it a powerful example of how low- and middle-income countries can harness open-source technology to improve lives and accelerate development.

The developers of MOSIP are so worried about poor people in the third world not having any proper identification that they – and their backers at the Gates Foundation and the Omidyar Network – are giving it away to any country that wants it for free.

Isn’t that nice of them?

But wait, there’s more good news! The developers of MOSIP believe very strongly that interoperability is…

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Brazil Uses Child Safety as Cover for Online Digital ID Surge

Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies has advanced a bill marketed as a child protection measure, drawing sharp condemnation from lawmakers who say the process ignored legislative rules and opens the door to broad censorship of online content.

Bill PL 2628/2022, which outlines mandatory rules for digital platforms operating in Brazil, moved forward at an unusually fast pace after Chamber President Hugo Motta approved an urgency request on August 19.

That decision cut off critical steps in the legislative process, including committee review and broader debate, allowing the proposal to reach the full floor for a vote just one day later.

The urgency motion, Requerimento de Urgência REQ 1785/2025, passed without a roll-call vote. Instead, Motta used a symbolic vote, a method that records no individual positions and relies on the presiding officer’s perception of consensus. Requests for a formal, recorded vote were rejected outright.

Congressman Marcel van Hattem (NOVO-RS) accused the Chamber’s leadership of bypassing democratic norms. He said Motta approved the urgency request to expand the “censorship” of the Lula government.

Other deputies joined the protest, calling the process arbitrary and abusive.

Under the bill, digital platforms must verify users’ ages, take down material labeled offensive to minors, and comply with orders from a newly created federal oversight authority.

That body would hold sweeping powers to enforce regulations, issue sanctions, and even suspend platforms for up to 30 days in some circumstances, potentially without a full court decision.

Although the urgent request had been filed back in May, it gained renewed traction after social media influencer Felca released a series of videos exposing what he called the “adultization” of children online. His content prompted widespread media coverage and pushed the topic of online child safety to the forefront. In response, Motta committed to fast-tracking related legislation.

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Google Expands Age Verification to Search

Google is extending its AI-driven age estimation system beyond YouTube and into its flagship search engine, raising renewed concerns over user surveillance and the growing reliance on opaque algorithmic profiling.

The technology, supposed to predict a user’s age by analyzing massive amounts of behavioral data such as search queries and watch history, has already triggered significant backlash.

Users are now encountering age verification prompts within Google Search.

One individual described to Reclaim The Net being asked to verify their age while watching a video on YouTube, only to face a similar prompt during later Google searches.

This suggests that once a user is tagged for age checking, the requirement may be enforced across their entire Google profile.

While sightings of the feature on Search are still limited, users have noticed the demands for more data across the European Union. The full extent of the deployment is still unclear.

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Supreme Court Allows Mississippi Age Verification Law to Take Effect, Advancing Online Digital ID Push

The Supreme Court’s choice to let Mississippi enforce its new age verification law is part of a growing shift toward digital ID requirements across the internet, raising urgent concerns about privacy and censorship.

By declining to block the law while legal challenges continue, the Court has effectively allowed states to begin tying online activity to users’ real-world identities, a move that could reshape how people access information and speak freely online.

We obtained a copy of the ruling for you here.

Mississippi’s HB 1126 requires social media platforms to verify a user’s age before allowing them to create an account. Those under 18 must obtain parental permission. Platforms are also required to restrict access to what the state broadly labels as “harmful” content. For companies to comply, identity checks will be necessary, meaning users may soon need to provide government IDs or other personal documents just to post or view content on public platforms.

The Supreme Court has already allowed a similar Texas law to be enforced.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing separately from the Court’s unsigned order, stated that the law is “likely unconstitutional” and said NetChoice had “likely” shown that enforcement would violate the First Amendment. Still, the Court allowed the law to take effect, saying the trade group had not shown a strong enough risk of harm to justify emergency relief.

NetChoice, which includes companies such as Meta, Google, Amazon, Reddit, and Discord, argues that mandatory age checks for general-purpose platforms violate free speech protections. The group had previously won a ruling to block the law, but that decision was overturned in April by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Paul Taske, co-director of the NetChoice Litigation Center, said the ruling was a delay, not a defeat. “Although we’re disappointed with the Court’s decision, Justice Kavanaugh’s concurrence makes clear that NetChoice will ultimately succeed in defending the First Amendment — not just in this case but across all NetChoice’s ID-for-Speech lawsuits,” he said.

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The Fast-Approaching Digital Control Grid

Introduction

A digital control grid is an electronic network of digital telecommunication and information systems that allows individuals to be surveilled, tracked, and made subject to invasive controls applied to their financial transactions and resource use (such as electricity, food, water, transportation)—compromising, if not ending, all human rights and liberties. Control grids operate with significant data collection and AI to apply social credit systems that can be dictated on a highly centralized basis. A digital control grid ends financial freedom, replacing markets with technocracy—a system run by rules created and maintained centrally by “experts.”

Is the Trump Administration building a digital control grid? We provide the following checklist to assess the steps the Administration is (and is not) taking in a variety of areas to facilitate a rapid control grid build-out. We invite subscribers to post suggestions in the Comments section below.

The Big Picture

“Okay, let’s recap: REAL ID enforced; stablecoins incoming; mRNA Stargate project; TSA biometric overhaul; ICE using facial recognition; Palantir in 30+ federal agencies; Google/Amazon health data tracking; AI surveillance towers scanning highways. Surveillance State: engaged.”

Money

Summary: An all-digital currency and monetary system is essential to institute a digital control grid.

The GENIUS Act
There is support for legislation to create digital stablecoin infrastructure. Presumably, this can be used to create a programmable money system in both the U.S. and globally—in essence, a private CBDC.

More on the GENIUS Act (added July 18, 2025)
Exposing the Darkness Substack: Stablecoins “would likely eventually replace all cash, and would enable governments to freeze the accounts of anyone declared in violation of ‘lawful’ federal or state executive branch regulations, such as the vaccine mandates passed down in 2021 by [HHS]. Trump is doing the exact opposite of what he pledged…. He said he would ban CBDCs … but Stablecoins are in every important respect CBDCs.”

Armstrong Economics: “[E]ssentially, the government is turning the stablecoin into a digital dollar of sorts. The concern here is that this could delve into digitizing all currency and creating a CBDC. The act specifically provides the government with the authority to ‘block, freeze, and reject specific or impermissible transactions.’ This provision is not intended to protect the world against drug smugglers and thieves. This provision is intended to grant government unlimited control over how people spend stablecoins.”

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US Plan To Copy UK’s Disastrous Online Digital ID Verification Is Winning Friends in the Senate

The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) is moving forward in the US Senate with 16 new co-sponsors as of July 31, 2025, reviving a proposal that copies the same type of provision found in the UK’s controversial Online Safety Act, which has caused much backlash across the Atlantic.

In Britain, that measure forces online platforms to implement digital ID age checks before granting access to content deemed “harmful,” a policy that has caused intense resentment over privacy violations, the erosion of anonymity, and government overreach in the realm of free speech.

Now, US lawmakers are considering a similar framework, with more senators from both parties throwing their support behind the bill in recent weeks.

Marketed as a way to shield children from harmful online material, KOSA has gained prominent backing from Apple, which has publicly praised it as a step toward improving online safety. Yet beyond the reassuring branding, the legislation contains provisions that raise serious concerns for free expression and user privacy.

If enacted, the bill would give the Federal Trade Commission authority to investigate and sue platforms over content labeled as “harmful” to minors. This would push websites toward aggressive content moderation to avoid liability, creating an environment where speech is heavily filtered without the government ever issuing direct censorship orders.

The legislation also instructs the Secretary of Commerce, FTC, and FCC to explore “systems to verify age at the device or operating system level.” Such a mandate paves the way for nationwide digital identification, where every user’s online activity could be tied to a verifiable real-world identity.

Once anonymity is removed, the scope for surveillance and profiling expands dramatically, with personal data stored and potentially exploited by both corporations and government agencies.

Advocates of a free and open internet warn that laws like KOSA exploit the emotional appeal of child safety to introduce infrastructure that enables ongoing monitoring and identity tracking. Even with recent changes, such as removing state attorneys general from enforcement, these core concerns remain.

Senator Marsha Blackburn defended the bill, stating, “Big Tech platforms have shown time and time again they will always prioritize their bottom line over the safety of our children.” Yet KOSA’s structure could end up reinforcing the dominance of large tech firms, which are best positioned to implement costly verification systems and handle the resulting data.

The bill’s earlier version stalled in the House after leadership, including Speaker Mike Johnson, questioned its impact on free speech. Johnson remarked that he “love[s] the principle, but the details of that are very problematic,” a sentiment still shared by many who view KOSA as a gateway to lasting restrictions on online freedoms.

If this legislation moves forward, it will not simply affect what minors can view; it will alter the fundamental architecture of the internet, embedding identity verification and top-down content control into its design.

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UK Government Warns Against VPNs, Caught Using Them Themselves

The UK’s technology secretary urged citizens to think twice before using virtual private networks (VPNs) to bypass the country’s new oppressive online digital ID checks, framing it as a matter of child safety. His comments have landed awkwardly, given that many MPs, including senior ministers, rely on taxpayer-funded VPN subscriptions themselves.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Peter Kyle warned: “For everybody out there who’s thinking about using VPNs, let me say this to you directly: verifying your age keeps a child safe. Keeps children safe in our country, so let’s just not try to find a way around.”

Politico reported that official spending records show parliamentarians across party lines have been billing the public for commercial VPN services.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds charged taxpayers for a two-year NordVPN subscription in April 2024.

Labour MP Sarah Champion, who in 2022 pressed the government to investigate whether teenage VPN use could undermine online safety rules, also has a subscription on record.

The government says it has no intention of outlawing VPNs but admits it is monitoring how young people use them. This comes after a sharp increase in downloads following the rollout of mandatory digital ID checks under the new censorship law, the Online Safety Act.

For security experts, VPNs are not a subversive tool but a vital one.

The real danger lies in the age verification industry itself.

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