くコ:彡 NOW ENTERING: THE SQUID ZONE くコ:彡

So, if and when you get the age verification bullshit from google and youtube, DO NOT FUCKING GIVE YOUR ID/EMAIL/CREDIT CARD/WHATEVER. Use thispersondoesnotexist or this-person-does-not-exist to generate an older person (age requirements differ for different regions, but the USA is 18+ requirement, so choose someone OBVIOUSLY over 18). The first website is a refresh-to-generate site, while the second one allows you to input specifications such as age, gender, ethnicity (just pick white...), etc.

INSTRUCTIONS

When the age verification notification pops up, follow the below instructions. For those who ignored it/can't find it, go to this help page and scroll down to "Verify you’re old enough to manage your account", you will see a link to "verify your age" (image below)

BEFORE MOVING TO STEP THREE: THERE IS SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS FOR YOUR GENERATED SELFIE

Must face camera,

No glasses,

BRIGHT ROOM. I cannot stress this enough, open ALL blinds, get artificial light, otherwise you get the "too dim" message. This is the trickiest part of the selfie bypass method.

You will only be allowed to use the front facing camera of your phone, so get in position to point your phone cam parallel to the image on your computer or tablet screen, and make sure YOU are able see if it's working/if you need to adjust.

"person" must look VERY OBVIOUSLY 18+.

Ideally choose a generated image of an elderly person, or a male with an obvious beard.

SAVE/CAPTURE MORE THAN ONE IMAGE AS BACKUPS.

For the website that allows you to set parameters, you will need to take a screenshot via the app on your computer. The site blocks right click screenshoting and it will have a watermark unless you pay for a nonwater mark version.

2. Select "take a selfie" for your method of verification. DO NOT SELECT ANYTHING ELSE. Verifying via your email might seem like a safe route, but it still allows Google to see EVERY website you ever visit, what you do on that website, and collect passwords, usernames, and other information.

3. Agree/continue with this method, and you will get a QR code that you'll need to scan via your phone camera. Follow the link after scanning.

4. Allow the site to use your camera (NOTE: I had to exit and re-scan the QR code due to a slight glitch, but the second scan worked just fine).

YOU WILL ONLY BE ALLOWED TO USE YOUR FRONT-FACING CAMERA FOR THIS.

5. Get your image in the scanning circle. The circle's border will gradually turn green as it scans and verifies. KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PROMPTS ABOVE THE CIRCLE. These prompts could be urging you to center the face in the circle, say it's too dime, ask you to face the camera, or to remove glasses.

6. Continue trying numerous images or those getting very close to completion. It can take a while, and you MUST be in a brightly lit area, for the love of god. Keep trying. You will likely get a page that say it can't verify your age, but click "retry" and KEEP. TRYING.

7. When the image is successfully captured, you're golden! No more age verification bullshit from google. Close out the tab on your phone, and on your computer. Don't worry about the page on the computer staying on the QR code page, it doesn't change when age is verified, but it worked.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I DON'T VERIFY AGE? Not doing all this makes google assume you're under age and you are locked into "safe browsing" mode, which impacts websites you visit, websites you can see when searching (aka excluding mature/percieved as mature websites from your search), and what youtube shows you. I'm not joking.

This will be the ONLY FUCKING TIME I will ever use genai, and against itself to boot. Fucking make it eat its own tail.

You can find similar instructions via Reddit (which is where I found this, but no step by step instructions).