4 ms·

Can we actually prevent children under 16 from buying beer?

• mckn1ght 9mo ago
  Is there actually a difference between transactions between humans in meatspace (getting a government ID, then using it at a store) and age estimation algorithms?
  • hn_acker 9mo ago
    EFF explains a few differences between showing your ID in person and verifying your age online [1]. With respect to transmission, storage, and sharing of user data by the verifier/website, the risks of age estimation overlap with those of age verification. [1] https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/12/why-isnt-online-age-verification-just-showing-your-id-person https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/12/why-isnt-online-age-ve...
• phatfish 9mo ago
  If they are persistent enough, no. But then everyone knows it's not going to stop every child in every situation. It sets a president for what society thinks is a sensible limit though, and society raises children not just individual families or parents. Do we want kids becoming alcoholics? Do we want them turning up drunk to school and disrupting classes? Do we want to give parents trying to do the right thing some backup? So they know that when their kid is alone they can expect that other adults set a similar example. Sure, you can't stop a kid determined to consume alcohol. But I think the societal norm is an overall good thing. The same should be applied to the online space, kids spend more and more time there. Porn, social media, gambling etc. should be just a much of a concern as alcohol.
• triceratops 9mo ago
  We can't prevent all children from getting beer, but we can prevent most of them without compromising any adult's privacy. And everyone is ok with that state of affairs and the trade-offs. No one's calling for internet-connected beer cans that make you take a selfie before you can open them. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46447282 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46447282
  • account42 9mo ago
    > we can prevent most of them without compromising any adult's privacy But we don't. Even with in person age/ID checks the clerk will often enter some of that data into the store's system and then who knows what happens with it.
    • triceratops 9mo ago
      > the clerk will often enter some of that data into the store's system I've only seen them enter the date of birth. No identifying information. If they record the ID itself I'd recommend going to a different store. Or ideally, writing your legislators to have the practice banned.
      • dotancohen 9mo ago
        Depending on the size of the town, date of birth could be used to severely narrow down and target a specific person. If one suspects a partner of buying alcohol and could convince or coerse the clerk, or even just peek in the book, and see the partner's date of birth written there, then that is good enough proof for many people and many purposes.
        • triceratops 9mo ago
          We should end carding for alcohol for everyone because domestic abuse exists?
          • dotancohen 9mo ago
            That's a ridiculous conclusion. Identifying a single problem with an implementation is not a reason to abandon the implementation completely.
            • deleted 9mo ago
              [deleted]
            • 9mo ago