121–130 of 208 posts
> Australian government forces Google to soon ask Australian users to show ID to view some content There, I fixed it. I'm getting tired of every headline trying to bash on Google/Facebook/etc. for clicks.
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I don’t disagree with anything you said, but some countries, like the US, don’t have a national ID system. So we usually have the option of using one of several different ways to verify our identities[1] for commercial services. Unfortunately most still do give you fixed numbers that don’t change unless you move to another state. 1. https://help.id.me/hc/en-us/articles/360017833054
but some countries, like the US, don’t have a national ID system This is.. not quite true. Social security numbers are used this way (even if they aren't intended to be such a thing) and passports are essentially a national ID system. My passport is the only valid ID that I have - of course, I live outside the US and have to have the nearest US embassy renew it. (I don't qualify for Norwegian IDs yet, and my immigrat…
Not very helpful as a national ID if they are a relative rarity
> Australian government forces Google to soon ask Australian users to show ID to view some content There, I fixed it. I'm getting tired of every headline trying to bash on Google/Facebook/etc. for clicks.
Google is exploiting the requirement for age verification to set up Google accounts for future purchases.
The Australian government made a big push to make Google and Facebook pay Australian news sites for links to content on their platforms. Google made a number of moves to head that off, including pumping money into local initiatives and a deal with the local media companies. Not fighting back hard against the current social conservative government's moves on censorship and cracking down on online rights is consistent…
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Agreed, and not sure why the early downvote wave you experienced there. I am surprised to see this sort of sentiment downvoted on HN.
I'll explain why I downvoted - because I get a little bit sick of these slippery slope arguments that every time Google has to follow a law that, while controversial, is not exactly the last breath of a despotic régime, that people love to decry Google as "being evil". The fact is, there are gray areas. When it comes to government regulations, tech companies essentially have 2 options: comply or leave the country in…
I don't know the details of this legislation but I have viewed Australia as a beta test for new tech legislation and worry this sort of authorization barrier could become more common place in Western countries.
Ironic headline for a site which immediately throws up a full-page interstitial asking for my email address.
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A simple "the law requires us to" somewhere in that quote would have gone a long way to convey displeasure at their arm being twisted. But nothing in that quote suggests any arm twisting, and why should google of all corporations be given the benefit of the doubt? They look like eager and willing collaborators.
So why they didn't try to require ID for all the previous years until laws required it?
Not saying that is the case here, but it pretty common for corporations to use government as their tool
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I don’t disagree with anything you said, but some countries, like the US, don’t have a national ID system. So we usually have the option of using one of several different ways to verify our identities[1] for commercial services. Unfortunately most still do give you fixed numbers that don’t change unless you move to another state. 1. https://help.id.me/hc/en-us/articles/360017833054
but some countries, like the US, don’t have a national ID system This is.. not quite true. Social security numbers are used this way (even if they aren't intended to be such a thing) and passports are essentially a national ID system. My passport is the only valid ID that I have - of course, I live outside the US and have to have the nearest US embassy renew it. (I don't qualify for Norwegian IDs yet, and my immigrat…
SSNs? Sure, they’re (optionally) used as an identifier. But they’re primarily used in the financial world, along with your credit score. Most state and federal agencies won’t require an SSN for official business (again excepting taxes & payments). A hotel will accept a Global Entry card for check in. UPS will accept a non-driver’s license to pick up a package. You can vote with a student ID in some states.
And don’t forget people who are undocumented immigrants or on F-1 and J-1 visas who don’t even have a SSN, but still need to open US bank accounts, pay taxes, get US driver’s licenses, and vote in municipal elections.
Identification is complicated in the US!
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Imagine you are visiting hacker news, and for some reason you have to prove your age, but you don't want HN to know who you are, nor your age identity site to know you're going to HN One way to do this off the top mf my head would be HN issues a unique number (say 4096 bit) to you when you create an account You send that number to your identity provider along with confirming proof of age The identity provider signs t…
Why not let the user download the signed proof-of-age, and post it back to HN?
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Does google actually save this payment information for use in subsequent transactions? Or is it just used as part of the age verification process?
In the article, someone from google claims the data will be deleted as soon as it has been used for verification, FWIW.