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Tell HN: I am 12 and my GitHub account is flagged for no reason

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11–20 of 66 posts

Re: Tell HN: I am 12 and my GitHub account is flagged for no reason

#11
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could we not attach their name to this so that it comes up when future employers search for it? It just seems unnecessary.

It’s in their bio? I’m just trying to be friendly to a young individual who is interacting in an often unfriendly context.

I get that, but I don't think it's fair to interpret that as license to use their name, given that it also makes it clear they're a minor.

Re: Tell HN: I am 12 and my GitHub account is flagged for no reason

#12
post #6

Because of that, my profile is hidden from the public. I am in the US now but I am from China, is this a reason?

> A User must be at least 13 years of age. https://docs.github.com/en/site-policy/github-terms/github-t... Presumably because of https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children's_Online_Privacy_Pr... Sorry to hear you've lost access to your accounts. That really sucks.

They say in another comment that they were flagged as spam, so the age thing doesn't seem to be the primary reason...

Re: Tell HN: I am 12 and my GitHub account is flagged for no reason

#13
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A User must be at least 13 years of age. https://docs.github.com/en/site-policy/github-terms/github-t... Presumably because of https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children's_Online_Privacy_Pr... Sorry to hear you've lost access to your accounts. That really sucks.

They say in another comment that they were flagged as spam, so the age thing doesn't seem to be the primary reason...

There are lots of sites where moderators don’t make a point to look for underage users, but by policy have to cut them off when they come across them. I’ve seen scenarios before wear a spurious flag for some thing irrelevant ends up having this outcome.

Re: Tell HN: I am 12 and my GitHub account is flagged for no reason

#14
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could we not attach their name to this so that it comes up when future employers search for it? It just seems unnecessary.

It’s in their bio? I’m just trying to be friendly to a young individual who is interacting in an often unfriendly context.

Waterluvian: I also think maxbond raised a valid point; it could be kind of you, if you could remove the name of the child, to not permanently attach its real name to the posts.

He/she can edit the bio later, but he/she can't edit your post.

I'm pretty sure this kid is going to be very successful, especially when you see how he is acting today and curious about learning.

Re: Tell HN: I am 12 and my GitHub account is flagged for no reason

#15
> The problem is that I use GitHub OAuth everywere

Sorry you are learning the lesson about keeping all one's eggs in one basket the hard way. Don't single-source your identity authentication management and make backups for things important to you. If at all possible use adversarial services and treat accounts at services as ephemeral so that if one bans you, the other probably won't.

There should probably be a 12 Factor Lifestyle manifesto. https://12factor.net/

Re: Tell HN: I am 12 and my GitHub account is flagged for no reason

#16
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s in their bio? I’m just trying to be friendly to a young individual who is interacting in an often unfriendly context.

Waterluvian: I also think maxbond raised a valid point; it could be kind of you, if you could remove the name of the child, to not permanently attach its real name to the posts. He/she can edit the bio later, but he/she can't edit your post. I'm pretty sure this kid is going to be very successful, especially when you see how he is acting today and curious about learning.

Thank you, this is what I meant, I wasn't expressing myself as well as I could have. I don't mean to say GP was being unkind, I understand their intention, but it's not fair to be loose with the personal information of minors, and their doing so shouldn't be interpreted as consent.

Re: Tell HN: I am 12 and my GitHub account is flagged for no reason

#19
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A User must be at least 13 years of age. https://docs.github.com/en/site-policy/github-terms/github-t... Presumably because of https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children's_Online_Privacy_Pr... Sorry to hear you've lost access to your accounts. That really sucks.

They say in another comment that they were flagged as spam, so the age thing doesn't seem to be the primary reason...

Looking at archive.org the user says they are a middleschooler on their github profile.

Re: Tell HN: I am 12 and my GitHub account is flagged for no reason

#20
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s in their bio? I’m just trying to be friendly to a young individual who is interacting in an often unfriendly context.

Waterluvian: I also think maxbond raised a valid point; it could be kind of you, if you could remove the name of the child, to not permanently attach its real name to the posts. He/she can edit the bio later, but he/she can't edit your post. I'm pretty sure this kid is going to be very successful, especially when you see how he is acting today and curious about learning.

I hear what you’re saying. But minors are people and if they’re allowed on here at all, they should be treated with respect and equality. I will gladly change the message if they ask me to or if a moderator determines that is the correct course of action.

As someone who mentors young people in STEM, something I’ve found to be very important is to respect their agency. If this is a “this person is not competent enough to make the right call in not sharing their name” then perhaps a moderator should be involved and they shouldn’t be on here. But if they’re allowed to be on here and introduce themselves with their name, we should respect that.

I appreciate that you have good intentions. I hope you see the same in mine. If you feel very strongly about this, please don’t hesitate to report the thread. Dang is pretty wise.

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