Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for privacy. But between setting up the birthdate when creating my children’s local account on their computers, and having to send a copy of their ID to every platform under the sun, I’d easily chose the former.
I’d even agree to a simple protocol (HTTP X-Over-18 / X-Over-21 headers?) to that.
Genuine question, what if the only information it hands out is that you are over 18? Would it be different if all it was able to say is you aren’t a child?
It changes nothing. This is just to get their foot in the door and when it doesn’t work they’re going to escalate. I’m not interested in giving them a fucking inch. Big tech collects enough data on us as it is, we don’t need to make it easier for them.
They already have a giant list of pedos they aren’t dealing with. If they want me to trust their intentions are to protect children they need to start with that.
Because you’re going down what they call a slippery slope.
This shouldn’t even be a thing. This shouldn’t even be a conversation.
We were doing just fine before the Epstein Republicans got their matching orders.
You got the framing question wrong. You should have been asking if age limits should be implemented at all, and then whether the current proposals will work (which they won’t), and then whether they cause side damage (which they do).
And then you must understand the key point: once you build these surveillance tools, they will be expanded. You say “only 18” but once the framework is in place, why not add in “credit check” or “gender” or “nationality”.
And actually, we already know how the checks are implemented: they involve identifying people specifically. There is actually no way to do “only 18” checks; it is a physical impossibility. You always have to gather more data.
And finally, the basics of individual liberty as well as safe computing involve you choosing what software you want to run on your computer, and that you have control of your machine. For this type of age checking to work, it must take control away from you, the end user. And companies like Windows and OS X love it, because that would destroy the FOSS world.