this post was submitted on 15 Apr 2026
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[–] AlexLost@lemmy.world 3 points 46 minutes ago

In the future, you'll be sentenced to 10 years hard labour for a contraband OS while children are raped openly at lavish parties.

[–] RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world 47 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Palantir really wants it's fucking database.

All because Petey truly believes that there are demons living in the United States.

[–] TransNeko@lemmy.world 25 points 8 hours ago (3 children)

there are demons living in the USA. all Petey has to do to find the closest one... is look in a mirror.

[–] RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world 7 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

No the sad truth is that Peter Theil is, in fact, human. A human that we are all capable of becoming.

You just have to make a billion bad decisions to get where he is now.

[–] TransNeko@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago

Nazis aren't human. they are evil given physical form.

[–] greyscale@lemmy.grey.ooo 3 points 5 hours ago

Peter Theil and Sam Altman are why "queer owned business" is no longer an interesting label to be.

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[–] EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com 4 points 5 hours ago

Quit trying to make it happen

[–] Havoc8154@mander.xyz 5 points 5 hours ago (7 children)

Obviously everyone here hates this, but I'm gonna offer another perspective here and prepare for the down votes I guess.

There is a very good argument for OS level age 'tracking' as a means of creating a cohesive environment for software and websites to operate without having to implement individual age verification. The biggest actual issue here is how the OS determines what the user's age is. If this is implemented similar to what California has done, the OS would simply ask for the user's age at setup, and store that value, which can then be reported to programs and websites as needed. This would allow parents to setup a device for the child and not have to separately implement parental controls on every individual conceivable program, which are often easily circumvented. This would undermine any individual website's attempts to use age verification as an excuse to collect government ID data, and the security risks inherent to that.

There's no need to put any kind of validation onto this, it should simply be self-reported.

Now admittedly I don't trust our government to implement this in any kind of reasonable way so I definitely understand and respect the outrage, but I guess I'm just trying to find some positive aspect of how this might be implemented.

[–] zalgotext@sh.itjust.works 1 points 23 minutes ago

Sure, make it an optional field that you can fill in with whatever. Don't make laws requiring it though.

[–] spicehoarder@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 hour ago

Absolutely not, age data is biometric data. It can and will be used to fingerprint you.

[–] ImitationLimitation@lemmy.ml 11 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Wholeheartedly disagree. OS level age verification only removes the responsibility to protect users from the software developer and shifts it to the OS makers. Meta and OpenAI want this so bad so they don’t have to protect their users and their users children. Meta created the software the has lead to hundreds, if not thousands, of child suicide and they don’t want to be held accountable. AI companies have allowed the proliferation of CSAM, copyright infringement, and straight up theft of intellectual property, and want to push that off to OS as the responsible party. Google and Apple don’t fight it because they have extraordinarily deep pockets and already have the infrastructures in place in their app stores to accommodate this tomfoolery. This is also another avenue for increased surveillance at the deepest level of your digital life that is already extremely compromised. If we want parents to have more controls, then mandate easy to use parent controls for OS’s, apps, and web apps. Legislate mandating firewalls and routers have easy to use parental controls for internet settings. Pay people living wages and work them less hours so they can learn to use those things. Don’t add spyware into the OS. “Take off your tin hat dude.” How do you think they’ll verify age at the OS level? It will have to have an api that can be used to obtain the age verified information. Who’s responsive for reviewing all that PII? Where does that go? Who retains that information and for how long? What encryption technology is mandated to protect it from breach? Nah, man, no thanks.

[–] Havoc8154@mander.xyz 1 points 51 minutes ago (2 children)

Well that's just nonsensical. The only obligation it removes for software developers is the need to obtain (and justification for storing) personally identifying information on its users. Websites and apps would still be responsible for moderating their content and only serving appropriate content to underage users. It wouldn't do anything whatsoever to remove accountability for Meta.

[–] ImitationLimitation@lemmy.ml 1 points 36 minutes ago

That’s also just a minorities to the data intrusion and surveillance this is really building. Data is king, and adding age and other demographics obtained at the OS level to more sell more targeted adds to manipulate people. The same data bend used to target political opponents by governments. But it’s cool. It’s for the safety of the kids!!!

[–] ImitationLimitation@lemmy.ml 1 points 39 minutes ago

Let’s just say meta delivers some problematic content that traumatizes a kid and really upsets parents. This content was on the 12-year-olds Chromebook. The kid, then setting up the laptop with his parents had his age in there appropriately, and Met used theAPI to obtain it to prevent adult content delivery. However, kid is tech savvy, creates a secondary accounts, says they are 45. Maybe uses parents ID or something to do it. They then get the adult content. Parents file suit. Meta lawyers: Our API works as designed, and we can be held liable when the OS API says the person is 45 and not 12. Case dismissed. Profit.

But okay, definitely nonsensical.

[–] bearboiblake@pawb.social 9 points 2 hours ago

This is steel-manning an argument for a feature no one wants which is most likely the thin end of the wedge for increased surveillance and censorship.

This is just how it starts so they can trick well meaning developers into making websites and platforms which make use of this verification while it is still self-ID, but when the laws become more demanding and require connecting your user account to your real-world identity, it'll already be too late, all of your online activity can be tied back to you.

When I make this argument, people like to call it a slippery slope, but the fact is that there are so many nations cracking down on free, unmonitored access to the internet, with social media restrictions, platforms like Discord requiring you to provide identification, and so on.

All for this, all of that risk, all for a feature that adds very little value to the computing experience of anyone.

[–] Itdidnttrickledown@lemmy.world 10 points 2 hours ago

This isn't why those pushing for want it. It isn't about the kids safety but harvesting more information so they can tie all the other tracking data they have to a individual. its alway think of the children but lets make some money while we are at it.

Wrong. There are things that belong at the application level and others that belong in user space. Fundamentally it doesn’t make sense for any sort of mandate.

TF should I have to put my age or any other personal information into my pihole or any other system I’m running.

[–] BlackPenguins@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

See I would be fine with this. A user input. Cannot be modified after installation. The parent installs the OS, the kid is locked down. Easy.

[–] MasterNerd@lemmy.zip 0 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

I'd suggest it would need to be per-user. Family computers are a lot less common nowadays, but are still a thing

[–] klugerama@lemmy.world 3 points 2 hours ago

Maybe not family computers so much any more, but shared devices, absolutely.

It still needs to be per user, per app. If I hand my phone to my kid or my niece, I don't need them looking up or accidentally seeing adult content because the apps don't ask anymore.

If the apps stop asking the user, and instead just query the OS, there's no longer any connection to the current user. So porn sites, for example, or any app that might have adult-only content, would still have to ask. In which case - what's the point of the OS age requirement? This is in no way more secure than the apps or websites just asking the user.

What about servers? I have several devices in my house that serve content to the rest of the house or provide other services. Would they need my birthday, even though my kids use the services? What about gaming consoles, or TVs? IoT devices? Does my thermostat, garage door opener, living room lamp, or washing machine need my birthdate?

This whole thing is truly a slippery slope that hasn't been thought through, at least on its face. Unless, of course, the whole point of this legislation has nothing to do with "protecting children".

[–] Vieric@lemmy.world 29 points 9 hours ago

Has Bipartisan support too. The corporations want this, and both of our parties listen to them first and us a distant second. Catering to corporate wants is about the only thing the two parties can agree on. It's probably going to pass, even if I hope it doesn't. Buckle up my friends...

[–] Formfiller@lemmy.world 90 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Rules being implemented and enforced by actual pedophiles

[–] Virtvirt588@lemmy.world 24 points 11 hours ago (2 children)
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[–] thax@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

A few years ago, due in part to frustration with our information environs, but also for fun, I decided not to get internet after moving to a new apartment. I didn't have real internet for about 2 years. I did have 1GB of data per month through my phone service and used my phone or a mPCIE 4g card as an uplink for text-only internet. I restricted myself to JS-free http applications or light protocols like gopher, irc, rss, etc. I quite enjoyed my time having to be very mindful of my data usage. It forced me to fully audit all the technology on my LAN.

If this kind of legislation passes, I simply won't pay for internet. If both ISPs and telecoms start restricting devices, then I'll forego cell-based data as well. If public wifi spots become too restrictive, I won't patron those spots. I've accumulated more offline content on my server than I could ever consume in many lifetimes, so it really isn't a loss. Hell, it'd be an opportunity to organize it all well, and share via meshnets. Don't tempt me with a good time, politicians. I could save money, nerd out, and cut the noise from my information environments? Sign me up!

edit: I wanted to add: I do really like having a fiber link, but the main draw is having the ability to host my own services. If that goes away due to hierarchical pricing or device/encryption restrictions, 95% of the value prop disappears. I will not be strong armed into using overly-centralized services.

[–] razzazzika@lemmy.zip 5 points 8 hours ago (7 children)

Thats the day I leave windows for good.

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[–] E_coli42@lemmy.world 15 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Isn't this against the 10th amendment?

[–] Holytimes@sh.itjust.works 16 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

It's against the fourth and the first based on past lawsuits. But who knows what will happen with this.

[–] art@lemmy.world 4 points 5 hours ago

Possibly the 1st too. Code is protected speech.

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