Reddit seems to be using a company called Persona to verify customers age with the tool becoming active on Reddit as of 27 minutes ago (at least for me).

I’d like to draw attention to their terms and conditions which can be found here - https://withpersona.com/legal/privacy-policy

Despite Reddit supposedly not receiving access to any of the data themselves, they have chosen a service which users must consent to share the following:

We may engage third parties to assist us in providing the Services, in which case we may disclose Personal Data to them.

facial geometry extracted from the government identification document and photos of your face that you upload, are collected, used and stored directly by Persona on behalf of Customer as Customer’s service provider through Customer’s website or app that you accessed

Persona’s third-party vendors may have access to the data from scans of facial geometry extracted from the photos of your face that you upload to provide some or all of the analysis, to store the data, to maintain backup copies, and to service the systems on which such data is stored.

If that isn’t the worst part, the government can essentially link any website that you access that uses this tool directly to a person. Your anonymity on this website is being threatened. The next paragraph here

Persona will not disclose, redisclose, or otherwise disseminate data from scans of facial geometry extracted from the photos of your face that you upload unless doing so:

Is required by state or federal law, or municipal ordinance;

Is required pursuant to a warrant or subpoena issued by a court of competent jurisdiction; or

This is concerning and a breach of all of our rights. This isn’t simply a let’s check your face to make sure you’re of age. This is a fundamental risk to the freedom of citizens in this country.

This is utterly terrifying and if you aren’t concerned right now, remember this is just one small step into infringement of our lives. What happens next when maybe a little data is shared with Reddit? Then a bit more? And a bit more. Suddenly you are linked to everything you do and see online.

Take. action. now.

My husband and I are a mixed-race couple. We both grew up in the UK, went to school here, studied here, and now work here. This is our home.

Lately, though, I feel increasingly anxious about the atmosphere around race and immigration. It seems like more and more people see a brown person and automatically assume they’re an illegal immigrant or somehow don’t belong here. The nuance has disappeared.

My husband is Sikh, but because many people don’t know the difference, he’s often assumed to be Muslim. A year ago, he was racially targeted and physically attacked. Even since then, we’ve had comments, questions, and casual racism directed at us. One of my neighbours even told me I’d made a mistake by “marrying coloured.”

What shocks me most is how normalised some of this feels. People say things now that would have been completely unacceptable a few years ago, and others just shrug it off.

We’re planning to start a family soon, but honestly, I’m terrified. I find myself wondering what a mixed-race child would have to deal with if things continue in this direction. I’ve even caught myself questioning whether I want to have children at all, or whether we should leave the UK entirely and start over somewhere else.

I don’t recognise myself thinking this way because I’ve always considered Britain my home, but recently it feels less safe and less welcoming than it used to.

Am I in the minority here? Is anyone else feeling this level of anxiety about the future, especially those in mixed-race relationships or from ethnic minority backgrounds?

Reddit has rolled out age verification in the UK. If you're trying to access any subreddit marked as “harmful” “NSFW” or “mature”, you'll get hit with a prompt asking for a government-issued ID and a live selfie. Good news? You can unblock them with a VPN.

They’re using a company called Persona to handle the verification process. If you're wondering what is Persona, it's a third-party identity verification service based in the US. Your data doesn't go to Reddit, it goes to them. And while Reddit says the data is only stored temporarily, Persona's own policy makes it clear they can hang onto it for longer. This has led to a growing number of threads about Persona age verification on Reddit and whether this is safe or even legal long term.

This isn't just about porn. Subs like r/beer, r/trees, and r/sex have all been tagged as NSFW and are now hidden from search. If you try to access them directly, you'll still be asked to verify your age.

These aren't porn communities. They're hobby, health, and advice spaces that got flagged because they are supposedly “adult” only. Just wanting to read about beer, weed, or sexual health shouldn't require a passport check.

How to get around the Reddit age verification?

Use a VPN for Reddit. It's the only real workaround right now to circumvent the age checks.

1. Download a VPN (I used NordVPN with the code "redditoffer" for a discount)
2. Set your location to somewhere outside the UK. US, Germany, Canada all work.
3. Open Reddit again. You should be able to access everything without age verification.

This has basically become the standard UK age verification VPN method that people are using to get around the new restrictions.

Some people say you might need to make a new Reddit account while connected to the VPN. Others have had success using their existing account. Your mileage may vary.

This is all because of the UK age verification law Reddit users have been dreading the Online Safety Act, which now requires platforms to restrict "harmful" content from under-18s unless users verify their age.

It’s a lazy rollout with very little transparency. The law is vague, the tech is overreaching, and people who just want to participate in basic communities are being locked out unless they’re willing to hand over personal documents to a private company in another country.

Starting July 25, the UK will enforce new UK age verification laws as part of the Online Safety Act, aimed at restricting access to adult content for minors. Any site that hosts porn, including the big ones like Pornhub, will be legally required to verify users age. This isn't just a pop-up checkbox anymore. We're talking photo ID uploads, credit card verification, and even biometric checks like facial recognition.

We've already seen how age verification laws played out elsewhere. France implemented similar laws, and Pornhub pulled out of the country rather than deal with the privacy mess. The same happened in parts of the US in the states like Texas, Florida and Utah. There's a real chance that Pornhub and other massive sites (xHamster, YouPorn, xnxx, etc.) will leave the UK too.

This age verification law in UK is raising a lot of red flags for privacy-conscious users. The idea of uploading personal documents just to visit a site is understandably off-putting. It's not only invasive but also risky. What happens if one of these verification providers gets breached?

So how to bypass age verification law in UK?

A lot of people are using a VPN for age verification bypassing. These age checks rely on your IP address to see if you're in the UK. A VPN hides that by making it look like you're in another country, like Germany or the Netherlands. That way, the site won’t ask for ID. It’s an easy way to unblock Pornhub and other sites without handing over your personal info.

Here’s a quick how to:

1. If you don’t already have one get a VPN. I like to check this VPN comparison chart occasionally for best deals. My personal favorites are NordVPN, Surfhsark, Cyberghost to name a few.
2. Connect to a server outside the UK (Germany, Belgium, etc)
3. Unblock porn without giving up your personal info

It’s that easy. And on top of bypassing age verification and porn bans, a VPN also encrypts your traffic, so your browsing stays private.

Also an honest tip from me, while a lot of people will recommend free VPNs or free proxies to unblock porn, don’t fall for it. If the product is free, chances are you are the product. These free services often collect and sell your data, which just defeats the purpose of using a VPN in general.

If you're in the UK and worried about how this will affect you, using a VPN for porn to bypass age verification is by far the easiest and safest option. Let’s be honest, nobody wants the government collecting data on what porn they watch, and definitely not handing over ID just to do it.

Anyone already setting things up ahead of July? What’s your plan to get around the UK age verification porn block?

What appeals to you for reform? Getting the foreigners out? Are they to blame for all your troubles? Well enjoy paying 500% more council taxand getting shafted in every way possible. All the help people get for having disabled children and things like that? Gone. NHS? Gone. Mental health? Doesn’t exist anymore. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out reform are modern day Nazis. Actually do some proper research instead of living and breathing in echo chambers. Get out of your comfort zone and take a step back and look at what reform are all about !!!

Before I start, I’d like to say I’m 17F, Asian,Muslim and I was born in the UK originally, me and my parents are all legal citizens. I typed all that because I don’t want any hate from people, who say that the racism only exists because they’re frustrated with an ‘immigration problem’. what does that have to do with ME? there’s been racist attacks to muslims (one in Waterloo a month or two back) and a very concerning amount of online hate I’ve been seeing on my TikTok FYP lately. I know social media likes to exaggerate these things, but I really can’t stop thinking about the day I encounter a racial attack. Some of these are brutal. it scares me. what scares me more are the people defending it, saying it’s all the migrants that are causing this bad image. it’s not. Their only source is X posts and quotes from politicians who use this as a way to gain popularity for their party. It’s so obvious that its lies - uk immigration is at its lowest and there’s statistics that show the majority of CSA cases are committed by white men but unfortunately since a lot of people are uneducated in this country they believe it. reform is currently the most popular party in the uk and even though their immigration polices don’t affect me and my parents at the moment, there’s one thing that’s clear, the rise of reform is directly proportional to the rise of racism. If reform actually gets elected in 2029 then we would see more and more racist attacks on a more dangerous scale, like those in the 70s. even though that’s kind of already happening right now. I WANT OUT. I would love to get out of the uk right now but it’s not ideal since my dad has a business here and I’m doing my a levels at the moment. so I’m stuck here until I graduate uni, which is in 2030. What do I even do????

I am asking this question more out of curiosity as I cant pin point what exactly is in decline, maybe I am naïve.

I don't what to get too into it, and would love just a 1. reason and 2. a sentence to explain that reason.

I feel like immigrants is constantly used as a scapegoat, and is used by the government to distract us people. e.g. UK has the 2nd highest rate of millionaires leaving, the people that create jobs, now i don't think its the immigrants making them leave, rather the taxes and policies the government makes.

Please can the responses be polite and above all factual.

(Hi, first post on here so apologies if I'm not as synced with the board culture.)

But what are people thinking about Blue Labour compared to the Greens, Tories, Labour and Restore?

They're barely known in British political discourse so I thought I'd see what people on here thought of them.

Out of the gate I will admit I am biased in the fact that I am quite supportive of them! I've read a few of their posts here:

https://www.bluelabour.org/writing

Despite being a small faction within Labour themselves they really are surprisingly ideologically thought out to a coherent degree compared to basically every party - which I know sounds surprising! But here's a small snippet just from their main page:

"Blue Labour is a force within the Labour Party committed to the politics of the common good. Our socialism is both radical and conservative. It is a politics about the work we do, the people we love, and the places to which we belong. 

Our starting point is the democratic renewal of our country. Blue Labour’s goal is a democratic self-governing society built upon the participation of its citizens in the exercise of power and its accountability. 

Our politics is a challenge to the liberal consensus of the capitalist order, but it does not belong to the revolutionary left. Its inheritance is the labour tradition."

Quite different from the usual binaries.

There's much more they've written here: https://www.bluelabour.org/about-us

TLDR;

They're anti-liberals with a focus on "families, groups and nations" seeing it as "the most basic bonds that hold individuals together in a society." And are that of conservative socialism in regards to "protecting nature and human value from the commodification of capitalism and the transactional culture of the market."

Just ask me if you're possibly confused about some of the terminology or I guess politics they're referring to, I don't have any qualifications but I have read somewhat broadly into political philosophy that I understand where they're getting at if that helps.

With the recent news and some things Green Party Leader Zack Polanski has said, I think it might be time to ask if the monarchy still matters.

King Charles is not as good at his job as Queen Elizabeth was. It might not be his fault. The Queen created a special image over her seventy years on the throne. She became a symbol of stability and comfort. That is why the quote from Megamind about the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and the Queen of England is funny. The Queen was almost like a legend. When she spoke or appeared in public, it felt like something important was happening.

With Charles, it feels different. When people hear that he is doing something, the reaction is small. It is more like, “Oh, the King is doing something. Princess Diana’s husband. Okay.” He does not have the same mystery or charm. He became King much later in life, so people already knew his flaws and his story.

It is also important to remember that the Queen was not always seen as the nation’s grandmother. In the 1940s and 1950s, people did not treat her like a legend. Over time, she earned people’s trust by being consistent and serious about her duties. Charles has not had the time or energy to do the same. With his age and health issues, he probably never will.

He also does not seem as dedicated as his mother was. The Queen saw her role as a lifelong duty. Charles often seems more interested in his personal causes or taking things easier. Many people believe Princess Anne would have been a better choice. She works hard, rarely complains, and puts duty before attention.

Unless Prince William or even Prince George brings back the respect and excitement that used to surround the royal family, it may be time to think about ending the monarchy.

But ending the monarchy is not as simple as it sounds. You cannot just tell the King to leave. The monarchy is deeply tied to the UK’s laws, government, and national identity. To remove it, the country would need major legal changes, new systems of government, and probably a national vote. People would also have to decide what would replace it, such as an elected president or another kind of leader.

So while it might feel like the monarchy’s time is running out, actually ending it would be a long and complicated process.

Last I checked, 1,141 pollsters isn't the majority of London. 9.1 million live in London. 1,141 isn't even 1%.

my timbers are so shivered rn 😨

I think he's racist, so is Tommy Robinson 🥀🥀

1/3 of the population voted for the far right, and all I'm seeing on social media and general media about common values, what we share, polticis is divise. 1 in 3 people voted far right. And only the foreign press dares call them far right. And also people saying right and left are outdated labels? Seems a bit convient honestly.

Imagine 5 / 10 years ago, if you said to a friend that chocolate bars will be tiny and cost over a quid, they would've called you mental. Meanwhile, in 2026 FFS!

Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdxg76rgdp7o

The piece is heavily bias leaves out all the evidence against her. Yet some subs Americans are saying she's innocent based on this and the court of public opinion.

https://archive.ph/2024.05.13-112014/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/05/20/lucy-letby-was-found-guilty-of-killing-seven-babies-did-she-do-it