Age Verification Defeated in Many Ways - DTNSB 5069

You can get a VPN or get more creative and use a video game. Plus, why Web apps are better than native apps.

Starring Tom Merritt and Robb Dunewood.

TOM: This is the Daily Tech News for Monday, July 28th, 2025. We tell you what you need to know, follow up on the context of those stories, and help each other understand.

ROBB: Today, the UK discovers how to circumvent age verification, and The Verge discovers how to circumvent Samsung’s antioxidant sensor.

I’m Tom Merritt,

I’m Robb Dunewood

TOM: Let’s start with what you need to know with the big story.

[[BIG STORY]]
[[SOLO story of the day. Basic details, monitor commentary and sound when possible.]]

“Reddit and Discord’s UK age verification can be defeated by Death Stranding’s photo mode | The Verge”
“UK VPN demand soars after debut of Online Safety Act • The Register”
“I ‘fooled’ Samsung’s new antioxidant feature with a Cheez‑It | The Verge”

TOM: The UK started enforcing new rules on Friday that require online platforms to verify age if there is a chance someone younger than 18 could access harmful content. This has had a few effects.

One probably won't surprise you. Suddenly, last week, many people in the UK finally took seriously the need to protect their connection with a VPN. ProtonVPN reported a 1,400 percent increase in UK sign‑ups on Friday. VPN apps top the charts in the UK Apple App Store as well. The sudden increase in protecting personal security is heartening.

The age verification in the UK involves submitting a government‑sanctioned ID or just a selfie that an algorithm uses to determine if the user looks the part. A selfie can't be a still photo. You have to move to help prove you're actually there. Which leads us to another effect you might not have predicted.

The game Death Stranding has an in‑game photo mode. If you use this mode with the character Sam Bridges, you can get the 3D avatar to face the screen. You can then point a phone at the screen to verify by photo. The photo mode lets you move the camera and also change facial expressions. So if it asks you to move your head or open your mouth to prove you're there, you can make Bridges do it. The Verge was able to use the method to verify age for both Reddit, which uses the Persona service, and Discord, which uses k‑ID. It failed on Bluesky, which uses the Yoti service.

An Ofcom spokesperson told The Register, “age checks are not a silver bullet, and some determined teenagers may get around them. Ultimately, this needs to work alongside education, awareness campaigns, and through supportive conversations with trusted adults.”

[[DISCUSS]]

In other circumvention news, The Verge’s Victoria Song was able to fool Samsung's antioxidant sensor. The sensor uses blue, yellow, and infrared light to detect carotenoid levels in your skin. To measure it you press your thumb on the sensor for ten seconds. Song found that the sensor gave blackberries a low score when she pressed them on the sensor, even though they are high in antioxidants. But if she colored her thumb with orange magic marker or Cheez‑It powder, both notoriously low in antioxidants, it gave her a high score.

ROBB: DTNS is made possible by you, the listener. Thanks to
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[[BREAK]]
[[PAUSE]]

TOM: There’s more we need to know today. Let’s get to the briefs.

[[BRIEFS]]
[[3‑9 more solo reads with sound to complete the day in tech news. These are informational with minor commentary. They do not need to include stories that could be done another day in follow-ups. Just the essentials of the day should include sound where possible.]]

“Google failed to warn 10 million of Turkey earthquake severity”

ROBB: Google has a system for detecting earthquakes that combines measurements from Android phones. It has multiple levels. The highest one is “Take Action”. More than 70% of phones in Turkey use Android. But the system only sent 469 warnings for an earthquake in the country in 2023, where 10 million people were close enough to the epicenter to have received it. Google investigated the results and changed the algorithm to compensate. In a simulation of the earthquake, 10 million notifications were sent. The BBC asked Google how its system worked in the earthquake in Myanmar this past March 28th, but has not yet received a response.

“The High‑Schoolers Who Just Beat the World’s Smartest AI Models ‑ WSJ”

TOM: DeepMind and OpenAI both took this year's International Math Olympiad test. DeepMind perfectly solved five of the six problems, earning a gold. OpenAI did not participate in the official event, but would have earned a gold as well. However, 26 human students got higher scores. The Wall Street Journal speculates this might be the last year that human students outperform the models.

“Temu Accused by EU of Breaking Rules With Illegal Product Sales ‑ Bloomberg”
“Temu accused by EU regulators of failing to prevent sale of illegal products | AP News”

ROBB: The European Commission said Monday that its preliminary finding shows Temu does not properly prevent unsafe or counterfeit products from being sold to EU citizens on its platform. The EC says Temu uses an “inaccurate” risk assessment that relied on general industry information, rather than specifics about its own marketplace. A separate investigation is also underway to determine if Temu uses “problematic practices” like fake discounts and reviews. Temu may now respond to the preliminary findings to argue why they're incorrect or suggest actions to avoid a fine.

“Samsung to Produce Chips for Tesla (TSLA) in $16.5 Billion Deal ‑ Bloomberg”

TOM: Samsung has announced it will produce Tesla's A16 chip under a contract that will run through 2033. The A16 is the next‑generation chip for Tesla's driving hardware. Samsung makes the current Tesla A14 chip. Samsung has reported under‑utilization of its foundry business.

“PayPal to Roll Out ‘Pay With Crypto’ Feature for Merchants ‑ Bloomberg”

ROBB: PayPal will launch acceptance of more than 100 cryptocurrencies in the coming weeks. Merchants who use PayPal will be able to take Bitcoin, USDT, Ethereum, and more from popular wallets like Coinbase, Phantom, and MetaMask. Merchants can receive the funds as either fiat currency or PayPal's stablecoin. Fees for transactions will be 0.99%, much less than current fees for fiat transactions, and merchants who accept PayPal's stablecoin can earn 4% interest on those balances.

“Itch.io is the latest marketplace to crack down on adult games | TechCrunch”
“UKIE responds to adult games being pulled from Steam and itch.io after pressure from payment providers | GamesIndustry.biz”

TOM: An independent game store, itch.io, says it too has received pressure from payment processors to remove some adult titles from its catalog. An organization called Collective Shout claims responsibility for pressuring the payment companies, but the companies have not said why they are pressuring platforms like itch.io and Steam. Meanwhile, the UK Interactive Entertainment games industry body has issued its own statement calling on payment providers and platforms to “have confidence in trusted age rating systems and the enforcement mechanisms behind them.”

“Gwyneth Paltrow Joins Astronomer Coldplay Kiss Scandal in Video”

ROBB: The Apache Airflow company, Astronomer, published a video featuring the ex‑wife of Coldplay's Chris Martin, Gwyneth Paltrow. Paltrow says Astronomer hired her on a temporary basis to answer questions. While the questions shown on screen seem to relate to the viral video of Astronomer's now ex‑CEO and now ex‑HR head being caught hugging each other at a Coldplay concert, Paltrow's answers are very straightforward explanations of Astronomer's data automation features.

“UW researchers plan spinoff for disease‑fighting proteins”

TOM: Scientists at the University of Washington designed tools called RFdiffusion and ProteinMPNN that can efficiently and cheaply design proteins that recognize peptides on the surface of cancer cells. Those proteins can then be integrated into cells called chimeric antigen receptors or CARs. The CARs then teach T cells to attack those specific targets and destroy the cancer cells. 8 of 11 trials successfully triggered a response, and 2 of those killed the targeted cells. The process can also be used for viruses like HIV.

“OpenAI could rival Google Shopping with ChatGPT Shop”

ROBB: The Financial Times sources say OpenAI is testing a shopping feature to let you buy things without leaving OpenAI's app. OpenAI would get a share of any revenue generated. Bleeping Computer also has sources showing OpenAI's web app is testing toggles related to “Shopping,” “Checkout,” and “Orders.”

[[PROMO]]
TOM: What do YOU want to hear us talk about on the show? One way to let us know is in our subreddit. Submit stories and vote on them at www.reddit.com/r/DailyTechNewsShow/

[[PAUSE]]

[[HELPING EACH OTHER UNDERSTAND]]
[[This is the mailbag/ special contributions segments. Should be short missives from people with experience. Could be written email or pre‑recorded from the person.]]

ROBB: We end every episode of DTNS with some shared wisdom. Today Marty is helping us understand.

TOM: Marty heard the reporting on WhatsApp replacing native code with a web app in the Windows version of its app and wanted to combat the perception that this might increase RAM usage.

Marty writes:

“The real issue lies in poorly designed applications, not the technology itself.

For instance, Tauri is an alternative to Electron and WebView2 that uses the OS's built‑in browser engine, resulting in minimal RAM usage. This makes it a viable option for developers who choose to prioritize RAM efficiency.

… If the new WhatsApp app has an "ugly" UI as they put it, it's due to the designers, not the technology … A recent example I can think of is when the Facebook Messenger app went from a Windows app to a web app, and the UI got significantly easier to use and nicer looking (in my opinion). It just depends on how it's implemented.

Web tech is widely used in everyday applications, such as the Xbox interface, parts of Windows, and Steam. These examples don't receive complaints because they are well‑implemented. …

You can create 'bad' apps in any language or framework and I think it's important to highlight that web tech contributes to a more open and diverse ecosystem across all platforms, rather than dismiss it based on poorly executed examples.

Anyway, that is just my charged opinion being somewhat biased on the subject haha.

Keep up the great work!

[[DISCUSS]]

ROBB: What are you thinking about? Got some insight into a story? Share it with us feedback@dailytechnewsshow.com

TOM: Thanks to Marty for contributing to today’s show. And thank YOU for being along for Daily Tech News Show. You can keep us in business by becoming a patron, at Patreon.com/dtns