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

[-] Mesa@programming.dev 1 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago)

I meant there would be no way to stop any OS from just waving users through and automatically converting their account into an 'adult account', or just asking users "Are you 18 yes/no". How many variations of Linux are there now?

Right, but in this case, the parental controls just wouldn't be doing their job. I mean, you're right—there's nothing you can do about that. But if I'm turning on a setting to enable a parental control and it doesn't enable the parental control, then I'm 1) complaining about Microslop in the case of Windows, or 2) switching my kids to a different distro in the case of Linux. Again, I'm against the idea of government-mandated on the OS side. I'm undecided on the website side of things.

I'm gonna transcribe a section of a comment I made in another post:

Upon setting up the device or account, it is the parent's responsibility to create a password or biometric or whatever to activate/deactivate the safety mode. No personal information required. It should be pretty easy. Are there technically ways for the kid to get around this? Yes, but that'd be breaking the trust. In the same way you'd deal with your kid sneaking out of the house, you deal with that separately. | https://programming.dev/comment/22589550

I'd be in favour of the government commissioning and funding this and making it free-to-access for parents.

That's interesting. I'm in America and, unless it's FOSS, I definitely 100% do not trust a government-commissioned application that needs to see and manage all of my home's network traffic in order to work. Especially not right now.

[-] Skavau@piefed.social 1 points 9 hours ago

Right, but in this case, the parental controls just wouldn’t be doing their job. I mean, you’re right—there’s nothing you can do about that. But if I’m turning on a setting to enable a parental control and it doesn’t enable the parental control, then I’m 1) complaining about Microslop in the case of Windows, or 2) switching to a different distro in the case of Linux. Again, I’m against the idea of government-mandated on the OS side. I’m undecided on the website side of things.

Well if it's not mandated (on the OS side that you refer to) then sure.

That’s interesting. I’m in America and, unless it’s FOSS, I definitely 100% do not trust a government-commissioned application that needs to see and manage all of my home’s network traffic in order to work. Especially not right now.

I mean it would be opt-in. Me and you wouldn't ever get it and websites and developers wouldn't be burdened by it. That's the point.

No problem with your excerpt there either.

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.