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Google Adsense/Admob blocks you for life if you use it before you're 18

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Re: Google Adsense/Admob blocks you for life if you use it before you're 18

#71

Post by narag »

Shank wrote: post #15

As someone who operated on the "adult internet" with payment processors and related infrastructure without being 18, I still carry forward the constant fear that I'll be banned for retroactive Terms of Service violations incurred when I was a kid. It really sucks when it's services like AdSense because you're just screwed forever. I really really wish the internet was more supportive of "early hackers" who want to ex…

I get that there are tons of implications around contract law and child labor here, but there really needs to be an escape hatch if a parent agrees to whatever activity is being done.

While it's happening, it can be done using the parent's identity. After that, the same logic that prevents a minor to commit, because limited responsability, should be applied to avoid perpetual consequences.

But as usual, companies apply draconian measures that governments can't. Some day we'll finally get that regulation that draws a line between utilities and publishers...

Re: Google Adsense/Admob blocks you for life if you use it before you're 18

#73

Post by code51 »

ShowalkKama wrote: post #45

Can't you ask google to delete all your data and sign up again? (thank god GDPR exists)

I think for this to work, Google actually has to delete any information about you completely from its systems. I'm curious if anyone tried this with success as well.

Re: Google Adsense/Admob blocks you for life if you use it before you're 18

#75

Post by josephcsible »

ShowalkKama wrote: post #45

Can't you ask google to delete all your data and sign up again? (thank god GDPR exists)

No, they'll claim they have a "legitimate interest" to keep some of it, and then use what they kept as justification to ban your new account too.

Re: Google Adsense/Admob blocks you for life if you use it before you're 18

#76

Post by lovingCranberry »

ars wrote: post #49
Shank wrote: post #15

As someone who operated on the "adult internet" with payment processors and related infrastructure without being 18, I still carry forward the constant fear that I'll be banned for retroactive Terms of Service violations incurred when I was a kid. It really sucks when it's services like AdSense because you're just screwed forever. I really really wish the internet was more supportive of "early hackers" who want to ex…

The escape hatch is the parent opening the account in their own name. Companies don't have a choice here: Someone under 18 can not enter into a contract, there's nothing really they can do.

Hmm, in Germany children and teens can still enter contracts, as long as they are able to pay it with their monthly pocket money. Every single thing you buy here in a supermarket is also an implicit contract (Kaufvertrag).

So, you could theoretically rent servers and buy ad space on Adsense as long your pocket money covers it. On the other hand: this is a liability for Google and $provider -- as most of them are post-pay. If a teen ever decides to spawn an A1000 instance with 36 cores and cannot pay, the contract is void and Google has no entitlement for compensation.

Pre-paid stuff like a small instance on vultr.com should work fine, though.

Re: Google Adsense/Admob blocks you for life if you use it before you're 18

#77

Post by ceejayoz »

ShowalkKama wrote: post #45

Can't you ask google to delete all your data and sign up again? (thank god GDPR exists)

https://gdpr.eu/recital-47-overriding-legitimate-interest/

> The processing of personal data strictly necessary for the purposes of preventing fraud also constitutes a legitimate interest of the data controller concerned.

Re: Google Adsense/Admob blocks you for life if you use it before you're 18

#78

Post by kweingar »

romwell wrote: post #52
kweingar wrote: post #23

I've been banned-for-life from a handful of services after I lied about my age as a kid. I can see both (all?) sides of this: - As a society we ought to be forgiving of harmless youthful indiscretions - As a business you shouldn't have to give second chances to people who blatantly defraud you - There is a big can of worms when it comes to doing business with minors on the internet. I don't think there's a solution a…

I think the solution is "the right to fucking delete your account forver". Google keeping "limbo" accounts is dystopian, and seems like a GDPR violation to me.

I'm all for grace and forgiveness, but it seems excessive to require businesses to delete all records of people who defrauded them.

If a liquor store had caught me with a fake ID, I wouldn't consider it dystopian if they put my name on a list and kept it in the back.

Re: Google Adsense/Admob blocks you for life if you use it before you're 18

#79

Post by buildbot »

romwell wrote: post #52
kweingar wrote: post #23

I've been banned-for-life from a handful of services after I lied about my age as a kid. I can see both (all?) sides of this: - As a society we ought to be forgiving of harmless youthful indiscretions - As a business you shouldn't have to give second chances to people who blatantly defraud you - There is a big can of worms when it comes to doing business with minors on the internet. I don't think there's a solution a…

I think the solution is "the right to fucking delete your account forver". Google keeping "limbo" accounts is dystopian, and seems like a GDPR violation to me.

This is a hard edge case in my opinion, because unless you unregister that email everywhere you used it, someone else will gain access to all your old accounts which would leak potentially much worse things than a record saying this email is not available anymore.

Re: Google Adsense/Admob blocks you for life if you use it before you're 18

#80

Post by code51 »

RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #18

Note that the responses are responses by a community member and not by a Google employee. As such, those responses should be taken with a grain of salt.

Google Adsense/Admob offers no support for most of its users.

Only users that generate large revenue can access Chat option.

For the rest, the only option is to write to support community. It's deliberate: feels like there is support but there is none.

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