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Cthulhu_yesterday at 11:56 AM10 repliesview on HN

Age verification is not (should not be) the same as ID verification / storage / etc; the US needs laws similar to EU ones where companies can only get the minimum required PII. In the case of age verification that's zero, or a boolean value "yes this person is over 18" that they get from a trusted party like a bank.


Replies

egorfineyesterday at 1:10 PM

> or a boolean value "yes this person is over 18"

It would be detrimental to the cause, which is to collect everyone's ID.

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tsukikageyesterday at 12:07 PM

It's just like cookie banners: they shouldn't exist, but people's bonuses rely on never admitting that, so here we all are.

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phyzix5761yesterday at 12:23 PM

Bank? So now you know what bank they use?

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micromacrofootyesterday at 12:55 PM

The EU is also doing age verification by showing ID, only difference is that you have to trust that their zero proof concept works and they're doing what they say they do.

In the US we just assume no one does what they say they do.

rivetfastenyesterday at 2:51 PM

Colorado and a few other states have zero knowledge proof apps capable of this.

This is fantastic, except that the idea of mandatory government software only available on chosen proprietary platforms feels way worse.

If there were a way to crypto-notarize a third-party wallet token etc blah blah, then it would be interesting.

At the end of the day though, this is about protecting the powerful, not the kids.

odo1242yesterday at 7:52 PM

Well, that’s basically just the California law everyone hated

win311fwgyesterday at 1:21 PM

> from a trusted party like a bank.

For what reason should I trust a bank?

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shevy-javayesterday at 4:33 PM

I do not want my computer to yield information to evil outside actors in general. This is why systemd going that way is so outrageous:

https://github.com/systemd/systemd/pull/40954

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dlopes7yesterday at 7:41 PM

Isn’t the very first option on the article a service that estimates your age without ID? Are they lying?

chrisjjyesterday at 12:02 PM

> where companies can only get the minimum required PII. In the case of age verification that's zero, or a boolean value "yes this person is over 18"

This person? There's your PII right there. The ad seller's dream.

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