Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm in the opposite boat: I told paypal I was under 18 when I was under 18, called them, they kept my account locked, but as soon as I turned 18 I was unblocked and could used my original account. And I made the account when I was 11.
At what age did you call to report that you broke the TOS by certifying you were over 18? PayPal really kept a dormant account with an underaged persons PII for 7 years? Interesting.
Google Adsense/Admob blocks you for life if you use it before you're 18
211–220 of 290 posts
Re: Google Adsense/Admob blocks you for life if you use it before you're 18
#212To comply with US legal regulations my company had to: verify the legitimate identity of account holders via SSN or other means, confirm they are over 18, confirm they aren't on a specific list of financial fraudsters or entities blacklisted by the US government, etc. If we didn't do this properly for every single user we could have been liable for all kinds of nasty legal ramifications, including losing various legal operating licenses we worked very hard to obtain.
A kid claiming they are older than they are is relatively low on the scale of identity fraud, but it is still a form of direct identity fraud and would have direct legal consequences if we allowed it through. To open the account, they had to have put in a false statement about their age. Verification isn't instant, it takes time to process, so you can easily open an unverifiable account on many services including Adsense, but it will forever remain unverified if you cannot provide legitimate verification info. I am sympathetic that someone of that age might not understand the consequences of their actions, but they claimed to be someone they are not (specifically an older person). Once you do that, you can't go back and claim to be another individual. They can find an adult and have an adult open an account, which would have various legal ramifications for that adult individual who owns the account, but it would be a new account for a new individual just as with Google Adsense.
Also some of the comments about data and GDPR are a bit absurd. You cannot commit fraud, spam, or otherwise violate terms of service, then demand all your data be erased under "GDPR" so you can open a new account and do it over again without recourse. We had constant repeat violators trying to game our onboarding and sign back up after being banned or denied an account. Showing any form of "grace" around previously closed or banned accounts was taking a big risk. We were able to do so on occasion, but only because we operated at a small scale, so an admin could look deeply into individual circumstances and make exceptions. Google Adsense likely faces orders of magnitude higher levels of abuse, and it makes sense for them to not reopen accounts for any reason to minimize their risk exposure. Yes it is unfortunate for those who were banned for a "minor" reason but there isn't much else they can sensibly do.
Re: Google Adsense/Admob blocks you for life if you use it before you're 18
#213Earlier quoted context omitted.
its not an argument, its about the definition of the word, and how you were word policing based on your opinion that doesn't actually reflect the way the word is used. It wouldn't be an issue if you just had given your opinion instead of demanding he stop using words, which was the primary reason for my reply, because you demanding other people stop using words is insufferably arrogant.
Quoted post unavailable.
When that word is 'dystopia', yeah. Getting this offended about a megacorp being called dystopian is insufferable. Whatever your relationship is to Google, it doesn't warrant this level of personal attachment. You're acting like he insulted your own mother or something.
Re: Google Adsense/Admob blocks you for life if you use it before you're 18
#214Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm pretty sure that's the whole point of this issue though right? The account is burned forever because it's stuck in limbo. I think there would be less consternation/anger if the kid just had to wait till they were 18 but the way the support forum reads this account is forever "in limbo" and even turning 18 won't fix that. Surely Google writes off old "debts" after a period of time. Maybe not? I guess they will mak…
> but the way the support forum reads this account is forever "in limbo" and even turning 18 won't fix that. I think this is poor writing from the 'Product Expect' person - the 13 year old already has an adsense account that is 'active' but 'unverified', but verification is still possible. > If he tries to apply again when he is 18 he will be refused on the grounds of already having an account, even though he will ha…
Re: Google Adsense/Admob blocks you for life if you use it before you're 18
#215Permanently locked out. Tried to get back in after I turned 13, no luck. Well crap.
That's literally how I ended up `donatj` instead of `jdonat` basically everywhere - got permanently locked out of jdonat@yahoo.com
I have a fair number of active accounts to this day that I've had since before I was 13 cough ebay cough in the late 90s. I'm scared one day they're going to cross reference the creation date with my current age and be jerks about it.
Re: Google Adsense/Admob blocks you for life if you use it before you're 18
#216Re: Google Adsense/Admob blocks you for life if you use it before you're 18
#217I don't think the title follows. Nobody in that exchange seems to have considered the possibility that the 13yo could just keep the account going for 5 years until they're able to verify it at age 18, or alternatively just create a new Google ID on their 18th birthday and use that. Seems like a nontroversy.
Did you actually read the accepted answer there? Neither of the options you mention are possible.
Re: Google Adsense/Admob blocks you for life if you use it before you're 18
#218> Your son's account is now in limbo - it can't be verified, closed or paid out. It can only be abandoned but it will still technically be active as AdSense think he is over 18 - he declared that to be the case. Of course it can't be verified now , but what would prevent the son from completing the verification in a few years when he is actually 18?
Presumably because the Date of Birth on the account is immutable, and the son's ID (even when he becomes 18) will never match it?
Re: Google Adsense/Admob blocks you for life if you use it before you're 18
#219Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm in the opposite boat: I told paypal I was under 18 when I was under 18, called them, they kept my account locked, but as soon as I turned 18 I was unblocked and could used my original account. And I made the account when I was 11.
At what age did you call to report that you broke the TOS by certifying you were over 18? PayPal really kept a dormant account with an underaged persons PII for 7 years? Interesting.
Paypal was founded before there were any laws about age for signing up for things online, and minors are legally allowed bank accounts that their guardians don't have access to. (Or at least they used to be allowed: I had one at 14 in 2002).
Re: Google Adsense/Admob blocks you for life if you use it before you're 18
#220Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's very unwise to lie to a service provider when they explicitly ask, especially when setting up an account where money will change hands. That is technically actual fraud. Google's not gating out under-18-year-olds for fun: they're a business, they'd love to make more money. Contract law in the US forbids people under 18 from entering into broad categories of contract, and Adsense use operates under electronic con…
> That is technically actual fraud. That would depend on whose laws you were applying. In a lot of places, fraud requires a misrepresentation that's actually material to the transaction, and a court could come down on either side of the question of whether the user's age was material in the necessary way. > Google opens themselves up to huge liability if they inadvertently do business with a minor, which is why they'…
How expensive would it be to defend these cases in court N times per day in different of jurisdictions? It to have them aggregated into class action?