Age verification proposals are often presented as a simple tradeoff: sacrifice a little privacy to better safeguard children online. But that framing overlooks a more fundamental question. What happens to people who cannot verify their age at all?

Age verification proposals are often presented as a simple tradeoff: sacrifice a little privacy to better safeguard children online. But that framing overlooks a more fundamental question. What happens to people who cannot verify their age at all? This is particularly a problem when users are required to prove their age with identity documents.

  • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    2 days ago

    I’m thinking, “How do I keep my information out of the hands of centralized database looking for people spreading discontent?”

    On a public forum?

    A siloed server with good security could lack anonymity, but because the data is not centralized, the feds would have to take a special interest to create an account, and because there would be so many of these instances, it would be a very time consuming process.

    Kinda depends how it’s hosted. You don’t need an account to mine AWS if you can just pick through the backend.

    • schipelblorp@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      2·
      2 days ago

      If it’s hosted on AWS with a centrally accessible backend, it’s not siloed.

      The idea is that you can have access, but there’s a BARRIER to access for very little gain–the messages of a few hundred users at most.

      And if you want to be a dick about it, you can even rate limit to avoid quick and easy data scraping.