There is no legitimate reason to impose age verification on users in jurisdictions that do not legally mandate it.
It is a risk to the privacy and safety of all users on the platform - it provides an easier way for pedophiles to identify underage users and provides more doxable information.
Discord has no business making this decision on behalf of jurisdictions that do not legally mandate it.
There are several jurisdictions that require companies to ensure that age limits are not bypassed via VPN or anonymizers. This puts the companies in a catch-22, block all VPN and anonymizers access, restricting many people with no recourse, or applying the age rules unilaterally, restricting some teens, but giving recourse to adults using VPNs.
It is not, as you say, "a risk to the privacy and safety of all users", but rather just those marked as needing to verify.
So why not apply the age verification check to known VPN services and leave residential IPs alone? Laws from one country can only apply to another country to only so much of a degree.
I did not limit my statement to "people providing their government ID are at risk" or some equivalent for a reason. Bootstrapping the service for accounts it flags as adult now completely leaves all future services who have no pre-existing userbase to behaviorally profile - facilitating an industry norm that age/ID verification should be expected going forward is, and I repeat, a risk to the safety and privacy of all users.
Don't strawman an argument next time as "uninformed" lest you reveal just how many false assumptions you were making in arriving at that conclusion.
Sadly, Italian officials know about tor and will do whatever they can to bypass geo restrictions. We got hit with a fine, this isn't speculation.
Texas has indicated that it will hold companies liable even if users bypass age verification via VPN or anonymizers.
This isn't the industry deciding that they really want age verification, this is the industry deciding that they don't want to face the potential litigation. Complain about the laws, not the companies following the laws.
Countries trying to impose their laws on other countries that affect residents of other countries seem like they're raising a question of territoriality.
Seems like that's a more appropriate venue for international discussions between governments to figure this out rather than a situation where each country is trying to pass laws that affect much of the rest of the world.
rockskon · · focus · HN ↗
There is no legitimate reason to impose age verification on users in jurisdictions that do not legally mandate it.
It is a risk to the privacy and safety of all users on the platform - it provides an easier way for pedophiles to identify underage users and provides more doxable information.
Discord has no business making this decision on behalf of jurisdictions that do not legally mandate it.
hatsix · · focus · HN ↗
It is not, as you say, "a risk to the privacy and safety of all users", but rather just those marked as needing to verify.
Your hyperbolic rant is uninformed and tiring.
rockskon · · focus · HN ↗
I did not limit my statement to "people providing their government ID are at risk" or some equivalent for a reason. Bootstrapping the service for accounts it flags as adult now completely leaves all future services who have no pre-existing userbase to behaviorally profile - facilitating an industry norm that age/ID verification should be expected going forward is, and I repeat, a risk to the safety and privacy of all users.
Don't strawman an argument next time as "uninformed" lest you reveal just how many false assumptions you were making in arriving at that conclusion.
hatsix · · focus · HN ↗
Texas has indicated that it will hold companies liable even if users bypass age verification via VPN or anonymizers.
This isn't the industry deciding that they really want age verification, this is the industry deciding that they don't want to face the potential litigation. Complain about the laws, not the companies following the laws.
rockskon · · focus · HN ↗
Seems like that's a more appropriate venue for international discussions between governments to figure this out rather than a situation where each country is trying to pass laws that affect much of the rest of the world.