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So, you’ve hit an age gate. What now?

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Re: So, you’ve hit an age gate. What now?

#291

Post by triceratops »

account42 wrote: post #283
triceratops wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

> 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.

> 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.

Re: So, you’ve hit an age gate. What now?

#292

Post by dotancohen »

anal_reactor wrote: post #230
mckn1ght wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If I had a child I'd rather have it watch porn than Cocomelon As a parent that regularly fears who my children will encounter in the world, I’m glad there’s an “if” at the beginning of this sentence.

Don't worry, most likely your children will come across the normal sorts of bad people - cheating partners, bullying peers, abusive bosses, rude customers, lying beggars, maybe robbers and thieves. It's fortunately unlikely they'll meet a guy who is outspoken about his opinion that scientifically capturing people's attention to get them addicted to screens is morally much worse than showing them "penis into vagina ep…

Honestly if internet porn were "penis into vagina episode 74786" I'd have no problem with my kids who are old enough to desire it, to watch it. The problem is that all internet porn I've seen demonstrates undesirable behaviours and attitudes towards sex and towards their partners. Hitting, degradation, homosexuality, sex between family members, harmful body modifications, verbal abuse, etc, are on the front page of every porn site I've looked at. I honestly do not understand how this is supposed to be stimulating.

I have no problem with my kids watching a couple progress from kissing to foreplay to passion, if those kids already have the hormonal desires to experience these acts. But contemporary websites teach that violence is an integral part of sex - and I do not want my children learning this.

Re: So, you’ve hit an age gate. What now?

#293

Post by dotancohen »

triceratops wrote: post #291
account42 wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

> 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.

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.

Re: So, you’ve hit an age gate. What now?

#294

Post by dotancohen »

thewebguyd wrote: post #192
idopmstuff wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would you suggest they verify age? I am not aware of a good way to do it from a privacy and security perspective.

It doesn't have to be exclusively digital. You can be psuedoanonymous using some form of key as verification. To get a key, you have to present your ID in person at, for example, the social security office or local DOL. All the key does is attest that "this person is over X years old" with no other identifying information associated with it. I think blending in person & digital together is going to be the best way fo…

  > I have little privacy risk from the cashier glancing at my ID for a second to check my birth date.
Imagine your abusive ex is looking for you. She could go to a few alcohol vendors in the area and tell them "Respectful cashier, I suspect that my husband is reverting back to being an alcoholic. If you see the birthdate 1971-06-21 then please phone me after he leaves".

Re: So, you’ve hit an age gate. What now?

#295

Post by defrost »

dotancohen wrote: post #294
thewebguyd wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't have to be exclusively digital. You can be psuedoanonymous using some form of key as verification. To get a key, you have to present your ID in person at, for example, the social security office or local DOL. All the key does is attest that "this person is over X years old" with no other identifying information associated with it. I think blending in person & digital together is going to be the best way fo…

> I have little privacy risk from the cashier glancing at my ID for a second to check my birth date. Imagine your abusive ex is looking for you. She could go to a few alcohol vendors in the area and tell them "Respectful cashier, I suspect that my husband is reverting back to being an alcoholic. If you see the birthdate 1971-06-21 then please phone me after he leaves".

To which the vender replies "Why on earth would I check if someone over the age of 50 might be under the age of 18 (or 21 in some parts of the world)".

Re: So, you’ve hit an age gate. What now?

#296

Post by dotancohen »

palata wrote: post #253
petre wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm obviously not going to show my id to Zuckerberg's website or any porn sites, casinos because I don't trust those bastards. They're also not the police, so they lack the proper autoritah to request my an id.

I think the point of the comment you are answering to is that in Switzerland, they are building a system where you can prove your age without telling who you are to the website, and without telling which website you visit to your government.

The government might not know which website exactly, but the fact that you are looking to verify your age is in itself a datum that you might not want the government to know. "Palata was either looking at porn or buying drugs in January 2026" is probably not something you want the government to know, even if the specifics are obscure.

Re: So, you’ve hit an age gate. What now?

#297

Post by dotancohen »

defrost wrote: post #295
dotancohen wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have little privacy risk from the cashier glancing at my ID for a second to check my birth date. Imagine your abusive ex is looking for you. She could go to a few alcohol vendors in the area and tell them "Respectful cashier, I suspect that my husband is reverting back to being an alcoholic. If you see the birthdate 1971-06-21 then please phone me after he leaves".

To which the vender replies "Why on earth would I check if someone over the age of 50 might be under the age of 18 (or 21 in some parts of the world)".

Well, I did have many more recent exes in my early twenties than I do in my fifties.

But also the mechanics of the check might be important. For instance, I always go to take the baby out of the back seat when I park, even though I have not driven a baby in years. Because I do not want to ever risk leaving a baby unattended in a car. The store policy might be to check every ID, even in seemingly obvious cases.

Re: So, you’ve hit an age gate. What now?

#298

Post by palata »

dotancohen wrote: post #296
palata wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the point of the comment you are answering to is that in Switzerland, they are building a system where you can prove your age without telling who you are to the website, and without telling which website you visit to your government.

The government might not know which website exactly, but the fact that you are looking to verify your age is in itself a datum that you might not want the government to know. "Palata was either looking at porn or buying drugs in January 2026" is probably not something you want the government to know, even if the specifics are obscure.

Unless your e-ID app automatically requests 20 age verification tokens for everybody, whether they use them or not.

Re: So, you’ve hit an age gate. What now?

#299

Post by jama211 »

zahlman wrote: post #33
jama211 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They definitely already have your face though…

From where? Not everyone even puts selfies on the Internet.

If you’re 99.9% of people this isn’t even a reasonable question to ask because the answer is so obvious. If you’re the final 0.01%, they still will have it, just from when you last went anywhere with surveillance ever.
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