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Alec is a technologist, writer & security consultant who has worked in host and network security for more than 30 years, with 25 of those in industry.
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Mandatory Age Verification + Lack of Account Memorialization = Horrific Insensitivity by Substack (& others?)

2026-05-23 14:49:45

This, from Mark Nottingham; it’s easy to throw mud at Substack for implementing age verification in this way / for not implementing out of band account memorialization, but this underscores how age verification is a proxy for state mandated identity checks in systems that have no other reason to perform them & are not (should not?) be required to have them:

My father-in-law passed recently, and so I was helping my mother-in-law clean up the digital leftovers today. It turns out he had subscribed to a few substacks. They had a shared e-mail address, so I went to unsubscribe him and delete the account. Substack has decided to handle Australia's age

Mark Nottingham (@mnot.net) 2026-05-23T05:06:37.229Z

UK Government King’s Speech proposes “Cyber ASBO” with obvious risk of scope creep into censorship

2026-05-14 03:19:46

Nobody can convince me that by the time it gets through parliament something with this name & frame won’t turn into a general TCN to gag nerd speech about cryptography and security:

The King’s Speech briefing notes also referenced proposed “Cyber Crime Risk Orders” […which] could give authorities powers to impose restrictions on individuals considered to pose an ongoing cyber threat, reflecting a wider shift among governments toward preventive disruption measures rather than relying solely on criminal prosecutions after attacks…


UK moves to shield security researchers in cybercrime law overhaul | The Record

https://therecord.media/uk-moves-to-shield-security-researchers-cybercrime

Computer Misuse Act reform to move forward in National Security Bill

https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366642884/Computer-Misuse-Act-reform-to-move-forward-in-National-Security-Bill

Don’t take away our freedom to play games when we want | 38 Degrees

2026-04-30 15:21:52

Gamer’s Voice; and absolutely nobody is talking about “teaching our kids to laugh at, and circumvent, authority”. Quote:

If ministers use these powers, it could mean: Young people locked out of games like Fortnite, Minecraft, League of Legends or Counter-Strike after set times such as 9pm; Families losing the ability to decide for themselves how and when to relax together; Adults being forced to hand over sensitive personal data just to play games

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/don-t-take-away-our-freedom-to-play-games-when-we-want

From 2019: ‘If there were 5 million “bad people” on Facebook – terrorists, criminals, drug-dealers, whatever – that would be 0.2% of the userbase’

2026-04-14 02:05:49

99.8% would not be “bad people”.

This is “scale”.

Occasionally people need reminding how this works.

I find it bizarre that the AgeVerification (AV) industry says “platforms don’t want AV because they don’t want private data” – BUT civil society says “platforms DO want AV because they want private data”

2026-04-13 17:04:07

It’s like those criticisms of the BBC where they receive conflicting hate from both sides, so you have to start wondering whether the platforms aren’t simply doing the right thing to have pissed-off everybody.

Probably, yes, given the circumstances.


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