this post was submitted on 10 Feb 2026
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The obvious solution here is for DEVICE manufacturers to add verification steps in the OS for parents to configure.
How about hell fucking no you idiot
How is this not worse?
Rather than a hypothetical advertising ID assigned at the browser. We now have a physical government ID tied to every single device Serial ID accessible by anyone who claims they need age verification (read: everyone).
What he wants are just OS level parental controls. If enabled the OS tells apps that the user is underage. Like the only info is:
underage: true/false
Yea. Basically this.
Don't we already have this?
Google Family Link, Apple Screen Time
I have personally set it up. Works great for Google and Apple. The Amazon equivalent is shite - literally had to generate e-waste to get better control.
Hey I have a better idea
How about they fuck off and talk to internet router hardware companies to make decent software UIs, with defaults that make sheep masses actually use them to 'protect the children' client side where it actually works
Oh because its not actually about that and the powers that be don't actually give a rats about protecting children and this whole protect the children conversation is a red herring to allow them to push their real goals which include but are not limited to mass censorship of people who disagree with and resist their opinions, actions, and agendas
The real trick is we need the governments to back down and just make sure we have the power to allow/deny our kids access.
I mean uploading your government ID or having to share your biometric data via video is also just as terrible. There is no guarantee that these companies will not fuck it up sell your data get hacked etc. Instead of an ID number linked to you and they now have a copy of your identity.
Right and attaching it to your phone just means you click. "Send Daved Video" instead of "Record".
They are still going to have it for their own records
Ok, honestly with some caveats, this might have legs.
What most of us want: to use our services anonymously and privately
What some of us want: to keep youtube/discord/roblox from enabling pedofarms. yes i get the obligatory people should just raise their kids
What companies say they want: to keep kids safe
What companies really want: to appease some users and farm as much data about someone as they can and to comply with the growing trend of places that require age verification.
So, what if they provide an offline model for age verification? download the model, phone in airplane mode. verify yourself, get a digitally signed certificate, expunge the app so shove that verifiable signature as proof that you're an adult.
From the corporate standpoint, It's no different than signing into their account and giving them your face. we keep our privacy, they can fuck off about it.
How would that work on PCs?
Bios.