> The only acceptable solution would be for apps and websites to simply include a recommended age. Allowing parents to configure their children’s devices to block services that require users to be older than the specified age or that do not provide an age rating.

That just entertains the false justification for what is ultimately about surveillance and control. There are privacy preserving alternatives to accounts and ID/face scans but no one in power is interested in them because the loss of privacy is the entire point.

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bigstrat2003 16 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

If indeed the push for age verification is being done under false pretenses as you suggest, then one should propose solutions that accomplish the stated goals while preserving privacy. Either the solutions will be accepted, or the people advancing false pretenses will be forced to come up with new false pretenses, which will weaken their arguments. Either way is a win.

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giantg2 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

What might those be? Everything I've seen is ineffective or can be compromised. I think letting parents parent is probably the best option, but will require better/easier/free tools and education to help lock down different categories of harm.

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wongarsu an hour ago | parent | next [-]

Website generates a random nounce, the government offers to sign the json { over_18: true, nounce: [inserted_here] }. That signing is coupled to you being signed in, or scanning your passport via nfc or whatever

That significantly reduces the leaked information: the service doesn't receive any information who you are, and the government doesn't know what service you use. They can collude, but that does not reveal more to them than most current age-verification methods. Children can get another adult to sign their request, but that's a working attack on nearly any age verification (including in-person purchases)

Of course this doesn't replace parenting

	▲	giantg2 an hour ago \| parent [-]
		"They can collude, but that does not reveal more to them than most current age-verification methods." Or just correlate the IP.

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autoexec 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

There's nothing that can't be worked around or compromised in some way. Even the face scans and ID scans being used today are being circumvented.

In the end we do need parents to parent, but websites should help. The easiest way would be for websites to send an HTTP header to the client so that censorware can know to block or allow it accordingly.

	▲	Gander5739 an hour ago \| parent [-]
		> The easiest way would be for websites to send an HTTP header to the client so that censorware can know to block or allow it accordingly. That sounds very similar to the suggestion of the original commenter, that you responded to with >> That just entertains the false justification for what is ultimately about surveillance and control.