Zero Knowledge Proofs: The Bad News

What ZKPs don’t do is mitigate verifier abuse or limit their requests, such as over-asking for information they don’t need or limiting the number of times they request your age over time. They don’t prevent websites or applications from collecting other kinds of observable personally identifiable information like your IP address or other device information while interacting with them.

ZKPs are a great tool for sharing less data about ourselves over time or in a one time transaction. But this doesn’t do a lot about the data broker industry that already has massive, existing profiles of data on people. We understand that this was not what ZKPs for age verification were presented to solve. But it is still imperative to point out that utilizing this technology to share even more about ourselves online through mandatory age verification establishes a wider scope for sharing in an already saturated ecosystem of easily linked, existing personal information online. Going from presenting your physical ID maybe 2-3 times a week to potentially proving your age to multiple websites and apps every day online is going to render going online itself as a burden at minimum and a barrier entirely at most for those who can’t obtain an ID.

So the bad thing about this is that data sellers already have your data and zero knowledge proof doesn’t change that? Pretty weak point in my opinion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_identity_card_policies_by_country

Must be all Nazis then 🤡

So the new verification app must be pretty great as this completely removes the need to hand out your identity details

First versions of a personal id in Germany were introduced in 1850. I doubt the nazis introduced ids in South Africa or Vietnam.

I also don’t think the internet is comparable to telephone or postal services. There is a whole information space on the internet simply not existing in the other two.

You guys need to stop treating the internet as the wild west.

I swear people would call personal identity cards dystopian if we wanted to introduce them today.

There is nothing dystopian about applying existing laws on the internet.

Would be pretty great honestly. It gives autocratic rulers a way out without worrying to be hunted by some past enemies - given they aren’t narcissists that simply want to rule till the bitter end.

Ukraine wasn’t ready to do that in 2022 either.

Especially as there are open source alternatives such as matrix

Vietnam, Korea …

In fact the US never fought a war against a major power that wasn’t won by other major powers.

America’s only rival is China

Or Afghanistan. Or Vietnam lol

Huh so somehow that all powerfull US military couldn’t beat Afghanistan but China or Europa gonna be easy peasy? lmao

I’m sorry why exactly would Europe need to build a new military after the US leaves? Are they gonna take EU armies with them?

UK and France have nukes and aircraft carriers, Poland and Germany building up their continental forces, Sweden is no joke either.

If Europe wanted they could defend Greenland. I don’t think the US would be ready to use the necessary resources to win that fight.

https://correctiv.org/aktuelles/sicherheit-und-verteidigung/2025/12/17/neue-deutsche-kriegsmaschine-miliaer-aufruestung-bundeswehr-verteidigung/

Drones, hypersonic missiles, no must for public tender, attilery production, companies switching to military production. If left wing media complains here it means Germany is doing some things right.

Well, I sure hope Europe will team up with China to fight the US in case the US is invading an european country.

Germany is massively building up its military while talking like this. Are other countries doing the same?