ICO’s £14m Reddit Fine Highlights Age Check Privacy Concerns

**Executive summary:** The UK Information Commissioner’s Office fined Reddit £14.47m for failing to implement robust age verification and for not conducting a required data protection impact assessment, which left under-13 users’ personal information processed without a lawful basis and exposed to potential harm; experts are divided, with some warning that intrusive identity verification methods risk user privacy and security while others stress that DPIAs and effective technical controls are mandatory to protect children and avoid similar regulatory action.