Online age-verification tools for child safety are surveilling adults • Hacker News Board

Re: Online age-verification tools for child safety are surveilling adults

#211

Post by johnnyanmac » Tue, Mar 10, 2026, 6:05 PM UTC

petcat wrote: post #103

Scapeghost wrote: post #62

Man... How did yall white Westerners turn out to be the weakest people in the world? You were supposed to be the bastions of freedom and justice, and the rest of the world begrudgingly admired you for that and were slowly improving to become like you, but ever since 9/11/2001 the rich old people that rule you have been feeding you boogeymen to make you their complacent b*tches and you lay down and crawl along and acc…

> Now your countries are little different from Russia or China or Dubai The fact that many independent national newspapers (including this article from CNBC) are openly calling-out the surveillance state and entering the debate into the public conscience should tell everyone that USA (and the West) is very different from Russia or China or Dubai. USA is not perfect, but at least is has active public discourse. We can…

Turns out open debate doesn't matter in a post truth society. They don't stop CNBC because they know it doesn't matter how they report anymore. The propaganda is so ingrained that facts won't deter the masses anymore.

Re: Online age-verification tools for child safety are surveilling adults

#212

Post by jimz » Tue, Mar 10, 2026, 6:07 PM UTC

ajsnigrutin wrote: post #36

righthand wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It will be when everyone starts leaking from the big players. Age verification will make software development impossible or be impossible to implement without huge investment.

> Age verification will make software development impossible or be impossible to implement without huge investment. Not really, you'll just be forced to use services from eg google or meta. And pay for them. And share user data.

Just because it's not openly shared does not mean that there aren't large databases of everything from working refresh keys to entire profiles indexed out there for the large services. Most data leaks and breaches don't get reported, or acknowledged, or are downplayed in their potential effect (but weirdly, also given more weight than they deserve since it becomes pointless to have so much data that doesn't add anything new to, say, a profile of a person)

Re: Online age-verification tools for child safety are surveilling adults

#213

Post by johnnyanmac » Tue, Mar 10, 2026, 6:07 PM UTC

petcat wrote: post #153

close04 wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Public discourse is a speed bump not an immovable barrier. The proof is in the state of things advancing in the same direction for the past few decades at least. Speed bumps are still valuable but not if you want to block the road. So public discourse alone isn’t the silver bullet you make them out to be.

It's quite a defeatist perspective. You're saying that because we can't fix or prevent everything , then we should choose not to fix or prevent anything ? Many US states do not impose government surveillance or have age verification laws. But the point I was mainly making was regarding the comment equating USA and the West to Russia or China. Go to one of those countries and we'll see how long you can openly complain…

Main point is that the public discourse doesn't matter. These lawmakers are jamming what they want because they know Twitter is a rant box with no action.. If we want change we need proper coalitions at the worst and a working government at best. Yelling on social media is useless.

Re: Online age-verification tools for child safety are surveilling adults

#214

Post by peyton » Tue, Mar 10, 2026, 6:10 PM UTC

lapcat wrote: post #179

mullingitover wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Let's see a rich dude produce anything all by himself. We like the pretend that the one rich dude is producing everything and his thousands of employees are basically superfluous. We're certainly in agreement here, but I would say that most modern wealth is fictional: based on equity, which is based on credit, which is based on confidence, which at the end of the day is just vibes. So most of the 'wealthy' people e…

> So most of the 'wealthy' people exist as such with social permission because they're employed in production, and if they fail at that job the wealth rapidly evaporates. It's misleading to say "they're employed in production", using the present tense. Many were engaged in production, and some choose to remain engaged, but others don't. It doesn't seem to matter much. Bill Gates quit his job 20 years ago, claims to b…

A lot of complaints about the way the world works—what alternative do you propose?

Re: Online age-verification tools for child safety are surveilling adults

#215

Post by a456463 » Tue, Mar 10, 2026, 6:12 PM UTC

petcat wrote: post #103

Scapeghost wrote: post #62

Man... How did yall white Westerners turn out to be the weakest people in the world? You were supposed to be the bastions of freedom and justice, and the rest of the world begrudgingly admired you for that and were slowly improving to become like you, but ever since 9/11/2001 the rich old people that rule you have been feeding you boogeymen to make you their complacent b*tches and you lay down and crawl along and acc…

> Now your countries are little different from Russia or China or Dubai The fact that many independent national newspapers (including this article from CNBC) are openly calling-out the surveillance state and entering the debate into the public conscience should tell everyone that USA (and the West) is very different from Russia or China or Dubai. USA is not perfect, but at least is has active public discourse. We can…

In the US. There is no discourse and active criminalization of the people protesting pipelines, neutral markets and internet, right to own, etc. Even right to protest is under attack. What discourse? Private equity and monopolies is what everybody is willing to give away their comfort to. The effort of raising your own kids? Nah. I want govt to nanny me and everybody else. Better policing? Nah. We need the quick solution and surveill the neighborhoods. Better get back on your feet programs and social safety net for people needing it? Nah get off my backyard and take those homeless with you.

It is constantly people wanting convenience and vertical integration in favor of homegrown human solutions and then complaining that their rights are not met because of course they aren't. Corporations never cared for people.

Idk I feel like I writing a documentary. And not a response now

Re: Online age-verification tools for child safety are surveilling adults

#216

Post by johnnyanmac » Tue, Mar 10, 2026, 6:12 PM UTC

petcat wrote: post #116

999900000999 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

China has much lower crime, cheaper healthcare and is making progress in other aspects. We’re rapidly regressing into prideful ignorance. People are being encouraged to drink raw milk and fear vaccines. 19 century illnesses are making a resurgence. Citizens are being indefinitely detained for “looking” like immigrants.

> China has much lower crime, cheaper healthcare and is making progress in other aspects. China is also a horrifying place to live unless you are content just to participate quietly in society and never put a political sign in your yard or even just talk about the wrong thing with your friend in a private WeChat. https://reclaimthenet.org/china-man-chair-interrogation-soci...

I don't see much difference these days. Substitute wechat for X and that's the US for anyone non-white.

Re: Online age-verification tools for child safety are surveilling adults

#217

Post by a456463 » Tue, Mar 10, 2026, 6:14 PM UTC

hobs wrote: post #25

cultofmetatron wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

whats incredible to me are how many useful idiots out there STILL fall for it. ___ said hamas beaheaded 40 babies and that turned out to be a complete fabrication. That fake info was used in part to justify killing thousands of kids in ____ meanwhile the recent strike on Iran resulted in 80 little girls getting killed (with plenty of evidence) and its swept under the rug while we get blasted about the 7 soldiers that…

More useful idiots are born every day, most of them never are educated and do not see their past blunders as anything wrong happening, they are completely blind to the real implication of their actions.

I know some idiots that read newspapers and technical papers and yet would rather have company like discord providing safety for their new born daughter but would vote for small govt republicans (or democrats, i don't care, it's just a label that is applicable now. they are mostly all the same) and do nothing about calling out the actual child predators and taking proper action against them. It is bonkers

Re: Online age-verification tools for child safety are surveilling adults

#218

Post by lapcat » Tue, Mar 10, 2026, 6:21 PM UTC

peyton wrote: post #214

lapcat wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So most of the 'wealthy' people exist as such with social permission because they're employed in production, and if they fail at that job the wealth rapidly evaporates. It's misleading to say "they're employed in production", using the present tense. Many were engaged in production, and some choose to remain engaged, but others don't. It doesn't seem to matter much. Bill Gates quit his job 20 years ago, claims to b…

A lot of complaints about the way the world works—what alternative do you propose?

> what alternative do you propose?

Your question is ambigious. Are you asking what a different system would look like, or how we would get there?

As for the first question, there are many obvious ways to improve the system. Here are some suggestions: abolish the electoral college, abolish the Presidential veto and pardon, abolish the Senate, abolish lifetime Supreme Court terms, add term limits for Congress, publicly fund political campaigns and outlaw campaign contributions as illegal bribery, allow public recall campaigns against the President, Congress, and Supreme Court, etc.

As for the second question: "The biggest problem with the US is that we haven't had a political revolution in 250 years."

Re: Online age-verification tools for child safety are surveilling adults

#219

Post by a456463 » Tue, Mar 10, 2026, 6:23 PM UTC

hamburglar wrote: post #125

minton wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you’ll just not use Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, or Android? In other words, you’ll just not use any computers? Seems nonsensical.

Did I miss a memo on Linux somehow requiring age verification now? How would that even work?

Laws and lawmakers just concern themselves with making broad "laws" with little regard to specificity and applicability. California, Colorado and Illinois mandate OS "providers" to generate a signal. It is a copy pasted bill with little grounding in reality but a lawmaker is not going to say no "protecting children".

Pushed by AVPA - a group of companies standing to profit from this: LexisNexis, some Thiel corp, etc.

Re: Online age-verification tools for child safety are surveilling adults

#220

Post by hunter2_ » Tue, Mar 10, 2026, 6:26 PM UTC

Jeremy1026 wrote: post #168

DrJokepu wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But… You could transfer the account after age verification too. The only way to be sure is to ask for ID every time people use the website / application, then children will be truly finally safe from the horrors of the Internet.

> You could transfer the account after age verification too. Isn't that what I said?

Yes, but you also said it's a CYA, when indeed it's not sufficient CYA if only a former account owner, but not "this account owner," had been verified.