Age and identity verification can and should be done at the country level.
France has an ID service to pay taxes, and they have a network of possible ID verification systems. Like, you can ID through the tax system, or through the healthcare system. It works fine.
Implementing an API that uses the same to provide age verification is not rocket science.
If you need age verification for a website, say "smedia.fr", then you go there, then it makes you get an age verification token to "franceid.gov.fr", that guy gives you back a token, you send the token to smedia.fr which checks the token with franceid.gov.fr
I don't like the idea that media services are required to report back to the government that I'm accessing them - I think that is an issue many would have with such a system
I think you got me wrong. I was saying in France everyone has a photo id for government stuff. You pay taxes to the government so yeah you need some form of ID just for the government to know who’s paying the taxes. in the US you use social security number. it’s the same, but on a card and with a photo.
In the US you do not need an SSN to pay taxes. It makes it easier, and you can't claim a child without an SSN for the purposes of deductions, but you do not need an SSN.
France has an ID service to pay taxes, and they have a network of possible ID verification systems. Like, you can ID through the tax system, or through the healthcare system. It works fine.
Implementing an API that uses the same to provide age verification is not rocket science.
If you need age verification for a website, say "smedia.fr", then you go there, then it makes you get an age verification token to "franceid.gov.fr", that guy gives you back a token, you send the token to smedia.fr which checks the token with franceid.gov.fr
I don't understand how this is even an issue.