Already happened with Discord. 70,000 government IDs leaked. https://discord.com/press-releases/update-on-security-incident-involving-third-party-customer-service
Excellent read, thanks for sharing.
It was a reasonable assumption, but the distribution didn't pan out that way.
I did the math and it's 49.37% of the population, based on the 2024 census data, or 49.94% if you exclude Puerto Rico and D.C. I suppose mostly due to Texas and Florida being in the list, but also Ohio, Georgia and North Carolina with over 10M people each.
Here's the raw data
Based on the table from Wikipedia, and the list of states in the article.
| State | Population (2024) | Requires Age Verification | Population Requiring Age Verification |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 39,431,263 | 0 | |
| Texas | 31,290,831 | x | 31,290,831 |
| Florida | 23,372,215 | x | 23,372,215 |
| New York | 19,867,248 | 0 | |
| Pennsylvania | 13,078,751 | 0 | |
| Illinois | 12,710,158 | 0 | |
| Ohio | 11,883,304 | x | 11,883,304 |
| Georgia | 11,180,878 | x | 11,180,878 |
| North Carolina | 11,046,024 | x | 11,046,024 |
| Michigan | 10,140,459 | 0 | |
| New Jersey | 9,500,851 | 0 | |
| Virginia | 8,868,896 | x | 8,868,896 |
| Washington | 7,958,180 | 0 | |
| Arizona | 7,582,384 | x | 7,582,384 |
| Tennessee | 7,227,750 | x | 7,227,750 |
| Massachusetts | 7,136,171 | 0 | |
| Indiana | 6,924,275 | x | 6,924,275 |
| Maryland | 6,263,220 | 0 | |
| Missouri | 6,245,466 | x | 6,245,466 |
| Wisconsin | 5,960,975 | 0 | |
| Colorado | 5,957,493 | 0 | |
| Minnesota | 5,793,151 | 0 | |
| South Carolina | 5,478,831 | x | 5,478,831 |
| Alabama | 5,157,699 | x | 5,157,699 |
| Louisiana | 4,597,740 | x | 4,597,740 |
| Kentucky | 4,588,372 | x | 4,588,372 |
| Oregon | 4,272,371 | 0 | |
| Oklahoma | 4,095,393 | x | 4,095,393 |
| Connecticut | 3,675,069 | 0 | |
| Utah | 3,503,613 | x | 3,503,613 |
| Nevada | 3,267,467 | 0 | |
| Iowa | 3,241,488 | 0 | |
| Puerto Rico | 3,203,295 | 0 | |
| Arkansas | 3,088,354 | x | 3,088,354 |
| Kansas | 2,970,606 | x | 2,970,606 |
| Mississippi | 2,943,045 | x | 2,943,045 |
| New Mexico | 2,130,256 | 0 | |
| Nebraska | 2,005,465 | x | 2,005,465 |
| Idaho | 2,001,619 | x | 2,001,619 |
| West Virginia | 1,712,278 | 0 | |
| Hawaii | 1,446,146 | 0 | |
| New Hampshire | 1,409,032 | 0 | |
| Maine | 1,405,012 | 0 | |
| Montana | 1,137,233 | x | 1,137,233 |
| Rhode Island | 1,112,308 | 0 | |
| Delaware | 1,051,917 | 0 | |
| South Dakota | 924,669 | x | 924,669 |
| North Dakota | 796,568 | x | 796,568 |
| Alaska | 740,133 | 0 | |
| District of Columbia | 702,250 | 0 | |
| Vermont | 648,493 | 0 | |
| Wyoming | 587,618 | x | 587,618 |
| 343,314,283 | 169,498,848 | ||
| 49.37% |
I'm not sure if there are protests specific to each of these companies, but if you're near one of them, it may be worth trying to start something local.
I've mostly been attending the protests run by Palestinian Youth Movement Toronto who had a hand in writing these reports. https://linktr.ee/pymtoronto also check out https://www.findaprotest.info/
The latest report names these companies for using the loophole to route parts through the US.
https://armsembargonow.ca/nomoreloopholes/
The previous report (July 2025) had a longer list. They shipped parts to Israel, often via European countries and as cargo on passenger flights.
https://armsembargonow.ca/report/
Plus 19 other companies not explicitly researched in that report, but known to ship military parts to Israel: Apex Industries, Arconic / Howmet Aerospace / Kawneer Company Canada, ASCO Aerospace Canada Ltd., ATP / Veryon / Casebank, BAE Systems, Ben Machine Products, Collins Aerospace, Curtiss-Wright, Cyclone Manufacturing, Excelitas, Gastops, GeoSpectrum Technologies, Héroux-Devtek, Honeywell Aerospace, Inkas, Kraken Robotics, Magellan Aerospace, PCC Aerostructures Centra, TTM Technologies Inc. (formerly Viasystems Toronto Inc.),
I don't use Instagram, but I check in on the profile for the Palestinian Youth Movement Toronto every so often https://www.instagram.com/pymtoronto
More info about them here: https://linktr.ee/pymtoronto
There's also https://www.findaprotest.info/
It's fine to call this out, but please consider judging the article on its content. Here's an archive link: https://archive.is/2NfW7
People who care about privacy, myself included, should not shy away from the real consequences of the technology, especially when the profit motives of big tech are involved. I'd recommend listening to the podcast series in my other comment. I think there's a lot that can be done to hold SnapChat and Meta accountable for their lax protection systems that do not require draconian anti-privacy laws. So if you care about privacy, you should at least support that approach to reducing real and devastating harm.
Related: TVO did an excellent six-episode podcast series featuring CCCP's "Project Arachnid" software which scans the web for CSAM. It's a tough subject, but really good journalism: https://www.tvo.org/podcasts/arachnid-hunting-the-webs-darkest-secrets
Sounds like Geoffrey Hinton got in Bernie's ear and did a good job convincing him of the fears. Hinton is a good guy, but he's drunk too much of his own kool-aid. I think the bubble will pop at some point, but I'd prefer the fear-mongering over the hype, because the AI companies and governments do need more scrutiny.