"Every single time your phone throws that token to let you log into an app, it logs exactly who you are, where you are, and what you're doing."
Canada and digital carceral surveillance
π¨ For anyone tracking the under-16 social media bans in Canada and the UK, you might have noticed the government suddenly walking back some specific wording.
They backed off forcing you to upload credit cards or facial scans because of the public backlash, and now theyβre pushing a "backend token system". It sounds less intrusive on the surface, but here is the truth about what that actually means, because most people are being completely misled by that marketing:
A cryptographic token isn't a magic, anonymous poker chip. To work, a token has to be anchored to something verified. That means your physical device, your phone carrier contract, or your real identity is permanently tethered to that token.
Every single time your phone throws that token to let you log into an app, it logs exactly who you are, where you are, and what you're doing.
It isn't a privacy shield to protect kids. It's a digital passport that tracks an adult's every move across the internet.