Recently I saw an article on more needs to be done about age verification because it’s easy for children to falsify it (and most do). On the other hand you have adults who falsify it because it’s nobody’s business how old you are.

Current protections that ask you to confirm your age are completely pointless.

Now if you were required to provide ID to access X service, would you? If we’re talking adult content then children will simply look elsewhere, taking them to potentially more dangerous areas of the internet. (Heck, so would adults) Same if you deny them social media.

But if we’re implementing verification regardless then it needs to come from a third party. And it also has to be easy. Like something you do only once.

First: I would allow children access to social media under a child account that has limited access and ability to be audited by a parent. This is important because you don’t want them going somewhere you have no control over. (Which they will)

Secondly: An age verification gateway that can be implemented by developers seeking to use it. Possibly managed by the government body responsible for issuing ID (or a partner). This would be taking a short video of yourself plus uploading ID. (Banks are doing this now)

Thirdly: ease of use. Majority of us have a google or apple account associated with whatever device we have. Let those accounts hook into the 2nd step and share if an account is a child/adult account with any social platforms you log in using it with.

Just a few thoughts that came to mind whilst waiting dinner. Feel free to tear it apart!

I try not to judge people too much on it, sometimes it just happens to slip the mind which is fair enough. The people who don’t indicate at roundapoints however… It’s not just about safety, but letting others know if they can enter or not. By indicating you help one another and it takes minimal effort to do so.

I got the server-side ads a few weeks ago. Switched to another account and was ad-free again. I’d be happy to pay for Premium as it supports the creators I watch, but for ad-free alone it’s not worth the £13/mo. The other features jacking up the price aren’t much use to me.