11 ms·

You work so hard explaining to your friends good infosec practice like not just typing their credit card in because some site wants to "verify their age" and th

• dfxm12 5y ago
  On one hand, people have given up their credit card for worse pre-Internet or outside of the Internet (like "free" or nearly free trials that turn into a subscription service). On another, Google already has a lot of peoples' credit card numbers by way of Google Pay. Does this expose those people to any more risk?
  • dheera 5y ago
    Aren't there some credit cards that can create virtual numbers? Just give them a virtual number and then disable it right after registering. Then have your free trial, and only if you decide to actually subscribe, change it to a credit card number that is active. Businesses should not be unscrupulously trying to make money off people who forgot about the product during their free trial.
    • derwiki 5y ago
      I use Privacy.com to make virtual cards for this purpose.
      • rootusrootus 5y ago
        Does privacy.com still require a debit card? That was what put me off the last time I investigated their service.
        • Chirael 5y ago
          It did the last time I looked into it. I went to set up a privacy.com virtual card for a semi-sketchy site, only to have privacy deny the charge as it was for a "high risk" site. Yeah, I KNOW, that's why I wanted to use a virtual card. That ended my brief foray into privacy.com
        • ac29 5y ago
          Yes, their business model is charging merchants at credit card rates (~3%), and billing you at debit card rates (~0.1%).
      • malka 5y ago
        only work for US, alas
  • dredmorbius 5y ago
    And for those who haven't given their credit card number, as a protection against abuse or "accidental" purchases (in-app, in-game, premium content, etc.), this looks like a suspiciously-convenient-to-Google mechanism for acquiring CC data. We were previously told that it was advisable to use YouTube under an alias, and that other personal information such as phone numbers would be used only for account verification. Those policies were rescinded or proved to be lies. Google have no credibility here.
    • dvfjsdhgfv 5y ago
      > this looks like a suspiciously-convenient-to-Google mechanism for acquiring CC data. Actually wouldn't be surprised if the newly acquired CC number appeared right away as a new means of payment in Google Play.
  • pkulak 5y ago
    The problem isn't that Google is going to do something bad with your credit card, it's that because it's Google, they are training people to be okay with it everywhere else. Like when my bank sends me an email with a link to an external domain because I have a "secure" message.
    • mindslight 5y ago
      Actually Google is going to do something very bad with your credit card - link your online nym to your meatspace identity so they can better surveil you. That's much worse than having to deal with a few fraudulent charges, which at most requires mailing in an affidavit.
      • swiley 5y ago
        I don't know why this is down voted. Maybe because at this point creating a Google account now requires such a link?
  • JasonFruit 5y ago
    It might not be that dangerous right now, but it sets a bad precedent. It gets users accustomed to that, and gives bad actors a cover for their activities: Look, Google does it!
• homero 5y ago
  It's really bad but seems to be some EU law, this isn't something Google ever wanted. An alternative would be entering your passport or something which would be even crazier
  • laurent92 5y ago
    In 2010, Google required your ID card if you enter a false birth date, and you are locked out of your account in the meantime. Happened to a colleague of mine because we were using Google Apps for Business. Because he didn’t want to give his real info to Google at work, he couldn’t work for 2 days and had to give Google his ID.
    • jobigoud 5y ago
      > In 2010, Google required your ID card if you enter a false birth date How do they know it's false? And if they know it's false why do they ask for it, they already have the right one.
      • gknoy 5y ago
        > if they know it's false why do they ask for it, they already have the right one Great question. It seems like it's being used as authentication, rather than authorization, in that it's meant to prove that you are who you say you are.
  • alerighi 5y ago
    It's not required by the EU. If not all the sites that have content not appropriate for children, such as porn sites, or Reddit, would need to implement this. And of course you wouldn't give your ID or credit card to a porn site. Google is the only company that started to implement this. To me it's not required by law but they decided to do so to get more user data. Also because having a credit card doesn't confirm nothing about your age. I use a credit card to buy things online since I'm 13, you can have a credit card even if you are not 18, simply your parents need to sign for it, but then it can have your name on it.
• moogleii 5y ago
  Interesting, when does Apple ask for a cc for age verification? I don't think I've come across that UI. Edit: Looks like it might be an EU thing?
  • tpxl 5y ago
    I set my age to about 3 months old in Skype and got locked out. They need my CC to verify my age because of COPA (child online protection act in the US) or something.
    • sp332 5y ago
      But other websites don't do this, so I don't think it's a COPPA thing.
      • kodah 5y ago
        That would be COPPA. > In 2019, the Government of the State of New York sued YouTube for violating COPPA by illegally retaining information related to children under 13 years of age. YouTube responded by dividing its content strictly into "for kids" and "not for kids". This has met with extremely harsh criticism from the YouTube community, especially from gamers, with many alleging that the FTC of the United States intends to fine content creators $42,530 for "each mislabeled video", possibly putting all users at risk.[58][59][60] However, some have expressed skepticism over this, feeling that the fines may actually be in reference to civil penalties, possibly intended for the site's operators and/or warranted by more serious of COPPA violations or specific cases of "mislabeling videos."[61][62][63] As of July 2020, nobody has got the $42k fine.[64] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children's_Online_Privacy_Protection_Act https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children's_Online_Privacy_Pr...
      • 4ec0755f5522 5y ago
        I had this happen on a gaming forum, they upgraded to new forum software and pushed users through a 'update your account' flow. I accidentally set my year to the wrong number and ended up locked out of what had been a long-term username. It was bad, actually, because they had developed a system where your username on the system was tied to your in-game nickname as well so I ended up locked out of both and had to create a new username/nick. The admin of the website literally said "there's nothing I can do". I'm sure this isn't to do with the law specifically but just some limitation of their tools.
• sharken 5y ago
  On the more humorous side they could have implemented an age check similar to the one from Leisure Suit Larry. Although the questions were a lot harder back in 1991 when the Internet was not at your disposal. http://www.classicgaming.cc/pc/leisure-suit-larry/age-quiz http://www.classicgaming.cc/pc/leisure-suit-larry/age-quiz
  • toyg 5y ago
    Tbh I think this sort of thinng would be harder today, if you took away the internet "for a night", because pop culture is now much more fragmented than it was back then.
  • technick 5y ago
    I had to solve these questions back in 95-96 (when I was 15) after buying these games used from a pawn shop. I used various sources from multiple BBS's and teachers at my high school.
• littlestymaar 5y ago
  Related anecdote: A few years ago, my father bought a android tablet to my grand parents (both 85+). After watching them use it for a few minutes, I realized how user hostile the technical world has become: tons of ads popping up and asking for your attention (“click me”, “download x”, “make your device run faster”, etc). This and apps “redesigned” every few month, breaking the workflow they've struggled to learn (they usually needed to follow the hand-written note, they had taken when I showed them how to do). They've used it a bit more than a year, with occasional breakage, and they now have stopped completely.
  • vorpalhex 5y ago
    Root it, install a dns level adblocker (either for their network or just the tablet), install appropriate apps for them (preferring FOSS when possible via fdroid) and relock the tablet before giving it to them. Oh, and run a backup of the whole device first.
    • asdff 5y ago
      I can't believe it has to come to this to get a usable device for a growing segment of the population. Old people practically need their own IT department fighting for their best interests with how predatory tech companies have been towards them. They are SOL if their kid isn't a techie.
      • swiley 5y ago
        You should try using android trackphones. The instant it connects to a network it will download gigabytes of crap and launch it in the background. It doesn't matter what you're trying to do, whatever it is will get killed because all the malware needs more memory. Apps you want to install will be added to the end of the long queue. The (expensive!) cellular data will be instantly burned through by Facebook and friends. It's incredible. Personal computing is well and truly dead for the "consumer."
        • cvwright 5y ago
• syshum 5y ago
  Blame Government not Google and Apple. I hate both, but this is purely a function of terrible regulations
• deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
• pixodaros 5y ago
  My favourite is how many sites want you to click on a link in a "verification email" to log in, especially if you take basic precautions like blocking scripts and trackers and deleting cookies periodically. All that work training people not to click links in unexpected emails, and these companies get a bright idea to require that to log in.