Google will expand age checks on Android worldwide till the end of the year

Post by kevin_thibedeau » Thu, Jul 30, 2026, 4:26 PM UTC

RandomGerm4n wrote: post #154

I'm fundamentally opposed to age verification because it usually leads to mandatory account creation no matter how privacy friendly the age verification process itself may be. It's already extremely annoying that, for example, on YouTube, you can no longer watch many videos without an account. Furthermore, the whole thing also reinforces monopolies. Once you've verified your age on one platform, the barrier to switch…

Post by stvltvs » Thu, Jul 30, 2026, 4:28 PM UTC

gambiting wrote: post #281

kelvinjps10 wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not really about the info but restricting access to people. Imagine they restrict access to social medial to people with different political opinions as the ruling party in the government

The whole idea is that the government gives you a cryptographic token that proves you are over 18, but that token can be used anywhere. They don't get to say what websites can look at it, because...how would they.

Post by twothreeone » Thu, Jul 30, 2026, 4:30 PM UTC

cute_boi wrote: post #298

RandomGerm4n wrote: post #154

I'm fundamentally opposed to age verification because it usually leads to mandatory account creation no matter how privacy friendly the age verification process itself may be. It's already extremely annoying that, for example, on YouTube, you can no longer watch many videos without an account. Furthermore, the whole thing also reinforces monopolies. Once you've verified your age on one platform, the barrier to switch…

Exactly. In the future, to view a youtube video we will need create a Gmail account, we'll need a phone, SMS verification, an ID card, and we'll probably have to rotate your head two or three times and talk to some AI.

Post by throwawaysoxjje » Thu, Jul 30, 2026, 4:31 PM UTC

0x696C6961 wrote: post #85

K0nserv wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't want the market solving this. If we are going to do age checks it should be based on public key cryptography, be open source, and handled by the government. You verify with the government (or don't since they already know your age), you get some form of cryptographic attestation, present said attestation to websites/apps. I'm not a fan of age verification in the first place, but I am extremely not a fan of ra…

This is scary though too. If the gov managed a key server like this, almost all companies would start requiring it. But this effectively gives the gov a very easy way to lock you out of everything.

Post by 2OEH8eoCRo0 » Thu, Jul 30, 2026, 4:33 PM UTC

DANmode wrote: post #316

iamflimflam1 wrote: post #16

I find myself stuck on the fence with age checks. Companies have show that they are incapable or unwilling to address the problems they cause. And market forces are not working to correct things. It’s also pretty obvious that saying “parent should take responsibility” is also not working. Just observe the world around you to know it’s a non starter. This is where regulation is supposed to come in. At the same time, c…

> It’s also pretty obvious that saying “parent should take responsibility” is also not working. So punish those people. Stop letting them neglect the responsibility a parent innately has to their child and to the rest of us.