4 ms·

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: The standard should be that devices ask whether the user is a minor during setup, and make that available as an is_m

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: The standard should be that devices ask whether the user is a minor during setup, and make that available as an is_minor boolean to all apps and websites. Children's devices are almost always set up by parents, and the setting can be protected by a parental PIN code. This method is effective while being completely private and local. Though I can't take credit for the idea. It was proposed by the European Democratic Party.[0] [0] https://democrats.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Protecting-Children-without-the-privacy-nightmare-of-Digital-IDs-2.pdf https://democrats.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Protecting-C...

renjimen 8mo ago
It's only effective if "Children's devices are almost always set up by parents", which is a big assumption. My parents were about as tech savvy as you could reasonably expect but I still got away with buying R-rated video games and such. Kids are persistent and the dangers aren't always obvious.
- cubefox 8mo ago
  The question is whether parents should bear this responsibility or the state.
  - renjimen 8mo ago
    Both. The same as for other materials we don't want kids to access, like alcohol. We can't expect parents to always be watching their kids. That's not how societies have ever worked. But what I'm actually questioning in my comment above is effectiveness of the technology solution proposed at the device level.
    - hellojesus 7mo ago
      It's effective insofar as the parents secure the device. If it's a general purpose computer, and the parent forgets to lock the bios, kids will just live boot into Ubuntu or some other OS and do as they please. Or they may install keyloggers (including hardware loggers) to get the parents' password and then go update their account. Certainly this may help hinder them, but it won't take long for them to learn the basics of curcumvention, and the cost is regulated speech for OS manufacturers.
- uyzstvqs 8mo ago
  If kids are being persistent and the parent is indifferent to it, then online age verification won't be effective either. Children will just ask mom and dad to verify their Roblox and Discord accounts.
  - renjimen 8mo ago
    For sure, I'm not blanket supporting age verification technology. Just saying the alternative proposed by the parent commenter isn't very reliable either.

renjimen 8mo ago

It's only effective if "Children's devices are almost always set up by parents", which is a big assumption. My parents were about as tech savvy as you could reasonably expect but I still got away with buying R-rated video games and such. Kids are persistent and the dangers aren't always obvious.

cubefox 8mo ago
The question is whether parents should bear this responsibility or the state.
- renjimen 8mo ago
  Both. The same as for other materials we don't want kids to access, like alcohol. We can't expect parents to always be watching their kids. That's not how societies have ever worked. But what I'm actually questioning in my comment above is effectiveness of the technology solution proposed at the device level.
  - hellojesus 7mo ago
    It's effective insofar as the parents secure the device. If it's a general purpose computer, and the parent forgets to lock the bios, kids will just live boot into Ubuntu or some other OS and do as they please. Or they may install keyloggers (including hardware loggers) to get the parents' password and then go update their account. Certainly this may help hinder them, but it won't take long for them to learn the basics of curcumvention, and the cost is regulated speech for OS manufacturers.
uyzstvqs 8mo ago
If kids are being persistent and the parent is indifferent to it, then online age verification won't be effective either. Children will just ask mom and dad to verify their Roblox and Discord accounts.
- renjimen 8mo ago
  For sure, I'm not blanket supporting age verification technology. Just saying the alternative proposed by the parent commenter isn't very reliable either.