In this Office Hours Live, I kick off the stream with a big topic that keeps getting framed as “just privacy”: age verification. I explain why my views have evolved since early 2025. Yes, I still care about the obvious risks (like being forced to upload IDs and the fallout from third-party breaches—Discord’s UK rollout is a perfect example of how “safety” can backfire). But I don’t want us to miss the bigger picture: age verification is also about freedom of information, internet access, and who gets to gatekeep what software you’re allowed to install. I talk through what “privacy-respecting” age checks could look like in theory—like local, on-device verification and zero-knowledge proof-style approaches that only return a yes/no. Then I move into community Q&A: GrapheneOS compartmentalization (dual phone vs profiles), why I generally recommend Android profiles/user accounts before carrying two phones, and how you can split VPN/DNS setups between profiles for stronger isolation. We also touch on dumb phones (less tracking, but watch your lack of E2E encryption), /e/OS, Matrix, self-hosting tools I’ve been rolling out (status page, URL shortener, Invoice Ninja), and a bunch of practical privacy workflow advice.