On Mon, 9 Mar 2026 at 09:45, Ralf Mardorf <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Mon, 2026-03-09 at 03:56 -0500, David C Rankin wrote: > > This may end up being an interesting exercise to watch. Nothing short > > of a war between the privacy advocates, and the advocates for the > > protection of children. Not to mention the FOSS community's eagerness > > to have more personal information captured in the OS -- and then by > > what, systemd? > > I can't resist saying more about this. > > The questions would be > > 1. With an open source operating system, how can you ensure that a > security mechanism that performs age verification cannot simply be > bypassed before installing this operating system or using it for the > first time or each time you want to use it? > > It would be possible to bypass this without cracking any ominous binary > blobs. This makes the whole thing even more absurd, especially for users > who use a distro that is not user-friendly but user-centric. > > 2. Who should verify and store the data? Should David, for example, hold > his ID up to a webcam and have a trusted user check it and store it in a > database? > > 3. I haven't read the law. Does every login have to be done by someone > above a certain age limit for younger users? Does it have to be a legal > guardian? > > Some have mentioned routers and smart TVs, which would be perfectly > acceptable when it comes to child protection. > > Which devices still operate with complex gear mechanisms today? > > Or just with electrical circuits, on-off timers via NE555? I still have > a lot of old devices and haven't had to look inside the new ones yet. > But I would be very surprised if new devices didn't use computers, but > instead used gears and analog electronics. > > What about the dishwasher, washing machine, etc.? Are 13-year-olds now > not allowed to learn to be independent without someone first approving > the dishwasher or washing machine? Up to what age should little ones > suckle at their mother's breast? Until they are 16? Until they are 18? > > Even if this could be implemented, it would be disastrous for children's > development. > I'm sorry but this is just a gish gallop full of strawman arguments. The law doesn't say "cannot be bypassed" it merely describes an intreface where it is necessary to capture the data at *account setup* and expose it e.g. when connecting to an app store
