New US Congress bill proposal requires all operating system providers to verify ages
www.gamingonlinux.com
We've covered here before on individual US states setting up their own age verification laws, and now a new US Congress bill has been proposed for it.

This appears to be part of the “Parents Decide Act” announced earlier in April by Gottheimer, as just one step in the process. So expect a lot more to come. Some bullet point plans from it:

- Require operating system developers like Apple and Google to verify users’ ages when setting up a new device, rather than relying on self-reported ages.
- Allow parents to set age-appropriate content controls from the start, including limiting access to social media, apps, and AI platforms.
- Ensure that age and parental settings securely flow to apps and AI platforms, so content is tailored appropriately for children.
- Prevent children from accessing harmful or explicit content - including inappropriate AI chatbot interactions - by creating a consistent, trusted standard across platforms.

Currently, the bill is only in the introductory stage so it hasn’t yet passed and become law, so if this is important to you in the US you may want to speak to your representatives.

Source [web-archive]

I am sorry, but isn’t it 99% not about “children protection” but general surveillance for everyone wrapped up in a “pretty” package that plays, again, on fears as the parenting and unforeseen future backed up with the “time-saving” features for those who are in a hurry within the same system?

  • gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    01·
    8 days ago

    Downvote because your post is mostly tribalism. It’s “us users” vs “them evil state who want to surveil us”.

    Have you actually spent time considering whether age verification is beneficial? Whether parents think that their children spend too much time online, or whether the teenagers think that themselves? Have you taken their input and concerns serious?

    Many people i know irl are saying that children should spent less time online and maybe only in cleaner parts of the internet, which excludes a lot of sites. and they’re not saying that because they want to surveil everyone, but because they want to live a simple, unworried life that keeps them away from danger.

    I think headbashing won’t bring us anywhere, we need to listen to people’s concerns and take them seriously, and respond with clever wits and thorough analysis.

    oh and before any of you say “well, parents already have the ability to limit what children can do on their smartphones”. well, i did a lot of surveys about who knows these abilities, and who uses them, including here on lemmy, and the result is pretty bleak. 99.9% of people don’t know any parental controls, and many believe that there are no effective parental controls today. if you think otherwise, please provide examples.

    • Bytemeister@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      8 days ago

      Have you actually spent time considering whether age verification is beneficial?

      Yes, and it’s not.

      Whether parents think that their children spend too much time online, or whether the teenagers think that themselves?

      That has no bearing on whether or not every single website, advertising service , and application needs access to my PII.

      Have you taken their input and concerns serious?

      Yes, but if they aren’t willing to take responsibility for themselves or their children, then I don’t really give those concerns much weight.