OS Age Checks Centralize Surveillance

Requiring operating systems to verify ages and expose that status to apps turns device vendors and OS accounts into identity chokepoints that concentrate data and control. Such mandates are technically easy to bypass, risk creating circumvention markets (VMs, reinstalls, VPNs), and shift the privacy burden from platforms to the device layer. — If states move age verification into operating systems, it alters where identity and surveillance power sit — with consequences for privacy, market competition, and how effective child‑safety laws can be.