As any parent will tell you, very few things are actually “childproof.” Sometimes, caring supervision and teaching a child about risks is more effective than continually trying to move things beyond their reach. Case in point, recent efforts to “childproof” the internet through age verification are proving to be less than successful.

With laws in 19 states that restrict certain websites and platforms on the basis of age, companies have turned to identity verification processes to prevent liability for underage access. The tools for verification ask users to submit drivers’ license, social security card, live video, and/or facial scans. This data is then processed and stored in order to determine whether or not the individual may use the website. A small industry of third-party age verifying technologies has emerged, each promising accuracy.

To fulfill this promise, these companies must collect vast amounts of data about their users. In other words, a hacker’s dream come true. Attempts to use digital identity verification have historically been a cyber security risk. Mandating age verification means that an already fraught process will be carried out on a larger scale than ever before seen—not very reassuring to the millions of people who, in efforts to go online, have to submit their own information or be refused access.

Some advocates of age verification propose that the companies destroy the information once it is gathered. Ari Cohn, Free Speech Counsel at Tech Freedom, explains the dilemma this produces: “If you destroy the information about how you verified somebody’s age, how are you supposed to prove that you complied with the law? In some sense, you have to maintain some of this data. Otherwise, it’s just taking the platform’s word that they did it.”

Not only do age verification systems pose a threat to the privacy of all who use them, they aren’t always accurate. A recent in-depth report on the perils of this rising practice noted that even the most sophisticated scanning technology has some “blurriness” when it comes to people with who look older or younger than most their age. It shared the story of a Tik Tok creator with dwarfism who was banned from the app and had her videos deleted because of an erroneous age check.

The desire to protect children from harm on the internet and social media is a noble one. So is the desire to preserve the privacy and personal information of all those who choose to use the internet, which is now a necessity in the online age. Unfortunately, age verification is not the answer to these challenges.