Australia's recent social media ban for users under 16 has triggered a massive shift in digital privacy. To comply with the law, platforms must now verify user ages using biometric data or government IDs. This requirement forces companies to rely on third-party tools like k-ID to process sensitive identity documents, creating new vulnerabilities for hackers to exploit.

Recent data shows the ban fails to meet its primary goal. Research indicates that roughly seven out of 10 children continue using social media despite the restrictions. Furthermore, a breach of a third-party service used by Discord recently exposed the government ID images and personal details of thousands of users, proving that centralized identity databases are high-value targets.

Governments in the UK and EU are already planning similar frameworks. These policies move the internet toward a model where participation requires mandatory profiling. Instead of protecting children, these mandates create a permanent record of user identities that can be used for surveillance or targeted by scammers through phishing attacks.