Why does this app even exist? Why is everyone in this thread so okay with more surveillance? It’s ironic that people are arguing over technicalities instead of tackling the moral and societal impact of age verification.

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Aurornis 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

> Why is everyone in this thread so okay with more surveillance?

Sentiment on hacker news is surprisingly split on age verification as an abstract concept. There are always a lot of posts in favor of age verification.

I’ve tried engaging with some of them and it usually reveals a belief that age verification will only apply to certain sites they don’t use and don’t want other people using easily: Facebook, porn sites, TikTok, Instagram and the like.

As soon as age verification comes too close to services we might use, like Discord, the sentiment turns to complete outrage.

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Nasrudith 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Because they are hysterical morons who had their brains scooped out when they watched propaganda about social media being bad for children.

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crimsoneer 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

As a society, we broadly agree shops should check ID before selling kids alcohol. It is not that crazy to extend that online.

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ptx 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

The online version has been extended quite a bit beyond what we broadly agree. If we translated back to checking ID in shops, it might look more like this:

1) Obviously you can't be trusted to handle your own ID card, because you could lend it to someone else or manipulate it in some way, so there should be a trusted guard with you at all times to manage your ID card for you and hand it to the shopkeeper.

2) Obviously you can't be trusted not to try to influence or attack your guard, so you must be kept in handcuffs for your own safety.

3) Obviously you can't be trusted with acquiring unapproved tools or meeting unapproved people who might enable you to break out of your handcuffs, so the guard must only allow you to communicate with approved people and buy approved products.

Conveniently and profitably, this also puts the company supplying the guard in a position where they can sell access to their control over you (as a consumer and as a source of experimental data) to their trusted partners.

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uyzstvqs 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Showing my ID at the store doesn't register this on a government OpenID4VP server, and the store doesn't copy my ID.

	▲	brandonmenc 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		They scan my ID when I buy wine at the grocery store so, who knows?