118

Why is checking age at os-level that bad? (lemmy.fait.ch)

submitted 3 days ago by olivier@lemmy.fait.ch to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

158 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for privacy. But between setting up the birthdate when creating my children's local account on their computers, and having to send a copy of their ID to every platform under the sun, I'd easily chose the former.

I'd even agree to a simple protocol (HTTP X-Over-18 / X-Over-21 headers?) to that.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

Whether it should be government-mandated is one question,

That:s my primary issue

Is your expectation then that parents should sit over their kids' shoulder every moment that they access the internet? Are our tools not supposed to make that easier to handle?

In a perfect world, I would want APIs and other integrations be made available that will do that and the parent will only need to press a button to allow/deny it.
Not really government mandated but voluntarily by a group that executes the vision of a parent, requested by the government (due to requests by the parental society but not because corps deciding they need/want more controllable elements) and the technical parties (e.g. OS devs) that can integrate the wish.

Unfortunately this will probably be a mandated integration requiring everyone, doesnt matter if a child is existing, to authenticate that they are truly legally able to access the device and/or ressource.
Great, now as a childless person I have to do those things because some were irresponsible and ruined it for everyone :/

I hope I could communicate my issue.

[-] Mesa@programming.dev 1 points 11 hours ago

Whether it should be government-mandated is one question,

That:s my primary issue

That's my issue too. We're in agreement, but I just wanted to point out that the "it's the parent's job, not the OS's" doesn't communicate that and instead applies a blanket statement that actually undermines what you're saying you want.

The other guy is right when they say it applies to the check existing on the web-level. That is the issue, in my opinion, and I think people are just conflating that issue with the OS value's merit. Having a check at web level is actually what removes the responsibility and capability for parents to parent their children. Having it at the OS level makes it a tool for parents to use. They don't have to set it up, but the idea is that it makes it really easy for parents with zero computer prowess.

Again, should it be government mandated on the OS side? I strongly don't think so. But if anyone has a good solution to not mandate developers to respect the browser's report of the parental controls setting, I'd love to hear it (zero sarcasm, I don't want to have anyone breathing down my neck to implement this stuff either). The best I can think of is to take advantage of AI, but I can see why it could be unsavory. Should the browser itself carry a database of sites it has scanned and then use that to determine whether a site is safe? Should it query a user-owned model that's more customizable for the parent's tastes? Can we get that to run locally for everyone?

this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2026

118 points (100.0% liked)

Ask Lemmy

38538 readers

1686 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Rules: (interactive)

1) Be nice and; have fun

Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, toxicity and dog-whistling are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them

2) All posts must end with a '?'

This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?

3) No spam

Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.

4) NSFW is okay, within reason

Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].

5) This is not a support community.

It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.

6) No US Politics.

Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online

Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.