Even in 1998 such destinations as Neopets had graduated age-gated permissions. I was technically in one of the youngest age groupings, but in order to get full

Even in 1998 such destinations as Neopets had graduated age-gated permissions. I was technically in one of the youngest age groupings, but in order to get full access to the website, I either had to get my mother to fax a permission slip in, which sounded like a hassle for both of us, or I could just create an account with an email address and claim I was 18+. So I created my first email address and did that. Wasn’t even a hassle, and bonus: I had an email address now. My mother didn’t even have that yet, and I don’t think she had one of her own till 2006 when I signed her up for Gmail. Whether or not it makes sense for the age gating to be 13 or not, I couldn’t tell you, but whether it is 13 or 30, kids at whatever age we define them to be at will do as they wish one way or another. Given reality on the ground, additional legislation to try to force the reality we want is more likely to have additional costs rather than additional benefits so rather than centering our laws around age, we might want to try and center them around privacy for everyone.