Every time the government wants to watch what you do online, they use the same framing: protecting children. The GUARD Act is the latest iteration. In April 2026, the EFF published a devastating analysis of the GUARD Act, legislation sold as AI safety that would actually require identity verification for ordinary internet use. What Is In The Bill Mandatory Identity Verification: Users of high-risk AI systems must verify identity before accessing services High-risk defined broadly enough to include search engines and recommendation algorithms Anonymous accounts for any high-risk service become illegal Activity Logging: Platforms must log all AI interactions for minimum 3 years Accessible to law enforcement without warrant under national security carveout Prohibited Anonymous Use: VPNs, Tor, and anonymization tools explicitly prohibited for high-risk platform access Financial penalties for platforms allowing unverified users The International Pattern United Kingdom -- Online Safety Act: Age verification for adult content, VPN blocking. Australia -- eSafety Commissioner: Mandatory takedowns, platform liability for anonymous accounts. European Union -- DSA + AI Act: Stricter moderation but NO identity verification mandate. India -- Data Protection Board: Government can require platforms to identify any user. The pattern is identical: safety as justification, surveillance as implementation. Why It Fails Mandatory identity verification does not stop harmful AI use: Resourceful actors use stolen credentials or foreign-registered accounts Journalists and activists in hostile environments cannot safely use real-name services Domestic abusers verify identities easily -- the threat model is not addressed The GUARD Act does not fund AI safety research, mandate model transparency, or protect whistleblowers. It mandates surveillance infrastructure under the banner of safety. Nobody asked if you wanted to upload your government ID to use a search engine. They asked if you were against AI safety. The surveillance is in the fine print.