> I really wish we could leave these types of decisions up to parents and parents only. Leave the companies and governments out of it.

If you'd like to advocate for this position for a living, the tobacco, alcohol, and gambling industries will all be happy to pay you.

> I really wish we could leave these types of decisions up to parents and parents only. Leave the companies and governments out of it.

This is the way!

They at least have some sort of a take a selfie and some app guesses your age based on the photo option that I had not heard of.

> Accepted age verification methods

> Yoti offers several ways to confirm you're 18 or over. You can choose whichever works best for you:

> * Facial age estimation: Take a selfie and Yoti's technology estimates your age. No ID document needed.

> * ID verification: Take a photo of your ID (such as a passport, driving license, or national ID card) and upload it from your device. See Yoti's full list of supported documents for country-specific options.

> * Yoti’s Digital ID app: If you already have the Yoti app, share a verified "over 18" attribute from it.

Admittedly it's not as if the government is immune to massive data leaks either

> I really wish we could leave these types of decisions up to parents and parents only. Leave the companies and governments out of it.

You do understand that in order to do that, something or somebody has (a) know that the person being decided about is a minor, (b) know who that minor's parents are, and (c) have some way to get input from the parents.

You get that, right? Right?

"Make it the parents' decision" doesn't solve the privacy problem. It's also probably wrong as a universal answer to anything; parents aren't infallible, incorruptible oracles.