alt Hacker News> So don’t allow accounts with ages set below the limit like they already do for under 13s. Why does this translate to every other site wanting my government ID or a scan of my face?
Because self inputed age fields don't work. People just lie to access what they want.
You have to understand that the goal here is not token compliance but actually limiting teenagers exposure to something we now know to be highly addictive and damaging to mental health.
Clearly, the market is not able to self restrict and will exploit every opportunities given to it. It's only logical to take stronger restriction. That's basically bringing regulations on social media on the same track as tobacco and alcohol.
Personally, I think it makes a lot of sense.
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dont parents control what their kids do? if its that hysterically dangerous, take the phone off your kid.
> You have to understand that the goal here is not token compliance but actually limiting teenagers exposure to something we now know to be highly addictive and damaging to mental health.
If this would have been the case, proper parental controls would have been in place everywhere. Instead, parental controls are only used to maximize profits.
Ok, let's assume for today that age gating is the thing to to.
Requiring ID is not entirely the right approach here I think. You're forcing people to reveal PII for limited gain, and building systems you can't knock down later.
The EU is working on a zero knowledge proof system for exactly this purpose, but it doesn't quite seem to be ready for prime time yet.
https://ageverification.dev/Technical%20Specification/annexe...