@romli@social.vivaldi.net @markwyner@mas.to Because all of those are SIGNIFICANTLY different. Buying cigarettes: kids don't benefit from cigarettes. And for the adults who want them then it's a one-off check in person at the shop and you're done. Nothing tracked. Driving cars: the driving license database is a trusted, well secured government database that isn't sold for tracking people. And you're proving you can be trusted with a heavy object that's dangerous to others. Getting a bank account: Banks are in the business of keeping things secure! And the identity check is about preventing criminality and money laundering under false identities. Voting: as with driving licenses, it's a trusted, well-secured government database. As with banking, it's preventing criminality and voter fraud. Meanwhile, social media age checks are run by untrustworthy and unregulated identity providers who retain data even when they say they won't, who can track which sites you use and sell it with a perfect link to your identity, and who have repeatedly leaked data. All to delay the problems associated with social media until people turn 18 rather than actually fixing them. It's a bullshit law focusing on the wrong solution to a wider problem, because screaming "think of the children" works worryingly well in modern politics.