Why not bind it to the phone itself? The phone (or a phone app) would verify you're an adult, and beyond that the website would know nothing but that 1 bit of information.
Children obviously access the internet in other ways too - it's not uncommon for them to share computers with adults or even access the internet via the family television. I definitely remember during covid, most children would be on their parents' computers. Although it would still definitely make sense to do something at the phone level regardless.
There's still the issue of how to verify the user to give them that 1 bit. The current tools do not trust the user or the user's device, because the user could lie or modify the software on their device. But once my ID leaves the device, it becomes a privacy issue. You also have the problem that every pre-2026 device no longer functions with any site that requires the 1 bit.
Isn't this already a solved issue in crypto? You just need 1 trusted website to verify your identity and sign your bit. Instead of having to trust every website.
Indeed. I don't see why the verification process has to be done once per user per website, instead of once per user. That maximizes costs, inconvenience, privacy risks, and compliance failures.