The year age verification laws came for the open internet

When the nonprofit Freedom House recently published its annual report, it noted that 2025 marked the 15th straight year of decline for global internet freedom. The biggest decline, after Georgia and G [...]

Don’t be surprised that the FBI is buying your location data

The FBI has confirmed to the Senate it is once again buying data which can be used to track the locations of US citizens. That may have surprised the people who thought the precedent in Carpenter v. U [...]

How to clean your AirPods

It didn’t take long for wireless earbuds to become ubiquitous. Apple’s AirPods launched back in September 2016, joining notable true wireless headphones from Jabra, Sony, Samsung, and others. Shor [...]

12 steps you can take right now to be safer online

There's a fundamental question you can ask of both the internet and real life: "How do I enjoy my time here without taking unnecessary risks?" In grass-touching meatspace, you can cut o [...]

Roblox is adding an 'age estimation' feature for teens

Roblox is joining the growing ranks of online platforms that are trying to better understand the ages of their teen users. The company is rolling out a new "age estimation" feature for teens [...]

Microsoft plans to bring Xbox age verification to countries outside of the UK

Microsoft is implementing an age verification system on Xbox accounts to comply with the UK's Online Safety Act, and in a new blog post announcing the move, the company suggests it'll come t [...]

Roblox introduces mandatory age-gated account tiers

Roblox is preparing to roll out its biggest change since starting age verification late last year. While that program was initially focused on chat access, today’s news is about age-segregating the [...]

Roblox begins asking tens of millions of children to verify their age with a selfie

Roblox is starting to roll out the mandatory age checks that will require all of its users to submit an ID or scan their face in order to access the platform's chat features. The updated policy, [...]

California enacts age-gate law for app stores

California has become the latest state to age-gate app stores and operating systems. AB 1043 is one of several internet regulation bills that Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law on Monday, including [...]