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California and some European countries are trying to ram age verification on the operating system level as you install or register it. To "protect the children".
This is not a field where you type in your age - they want some kind of identity check. Okay, how are you going to do that?
Are you going to give the companies that own the operating systems access to official government databases? Which ones? Passports? Driver's licenses? Social Security records? This would be a treasure trove for identity thieves and scammers. This might work for Apple, Google (Android) and Microsoft which are well heeled, monolithic corporations which have the funds, manpower and skill sets (maybe) to set up secure identity monitoring systems and loot them for profit and shovel ads at you (I'm looking at Windows 11 which tracks you to do just that) but again - secure systems have been hacked. Lots of times.
And even if they're not hacked - denial of service attacks can be easily arranged especially in times of conflict.
So the whole concept is technically a BAD IDEA.
Now, let's talk about this age verification. To set up my IRS account to clean up the f*ck up H&R Block did, I had to create an IRS account. I had to:
submit my email
submit my cellphone number
set up two factor confirmation with my computer and cellphone
go to a website with my cellphone and take a live picture of an appropriate identification (driver's license - both sides)
go to another site on my cellphone to take a live video feed of my face to verify my driver's license.
That's a lot of information. And it was a pain in the ass.
Now, to Linux. With the except of two distributions out of hundreds, NONE of the Linux distros are owned or managed by a corporation. Most distros are volunteer created, maintained and run. Donations are asked for - not demanded. The software is free. It's open source so anyone can examine the code and find problem or vulnerabilities. They don't track you. You own your computer. Only Red Hat and Ubuntu have some kind of organizational cash and skill set to create a centralized server for a secure identity database. Everyone else? Nope. All those operating systems will become illegal.
I am not fully convinced that the idea of the laws are put there to "protect the children" from inappropriate internet content. That's what parents are for. Content of this type of that is marketed towards children is relatively easy to find, trace and people who provide it can be arrested. Having companies hold sensitive, personal identification data on their servers to loot is just a money grab for them and any hacker inside or outside said companies. Why do I think this? Because Apple, Microsoft and Google have all been quiet about these new laws. You have to go to their walled garden (prison) and eat their shit. No choice. No privacy. No way out. They own your computer, your data, your software, your life.
This is not a field where you type in your age - they want some kind of identity check. Okay, how are you going to do that?
Are you going to give the companies that own the operating systems access to official government databases? Which ones? Passports? Driver's licenses? Social Security records? This would be a treasure trove for identity thieves and scammers. This might work for Apple, Google (Android) and Microsoft which are well heeled, monolithic corporations which have the funds, manpower and skill sets (maybe) to set up secure identity monitoring systems and loot them for profit and shovel ads at you (I'm looking at Windows 11 which tracks you to do just that) but again - secure systems have been hacked. Lots of times.
And even if they're not hacked - denial of service attacks can be easily arranged especially in times of conflict.
So the whole concept is technically a BAD IDEA.
Now, let's talk about this age verification. To set up my IRS account to clean up the f*ck up H&R Block did, I had to create an IRS account. I had to:
submit my email
submit my cellphone number
set up two factor confirmation with my computer and cellphone
go to a website with my cellphone and take a live picture of an appropriate identification (driver's license - both sides)
go to another site on my cellphone to take a live video feed of my face to verify my driver's license.
That's a lot of information. And it was a pain in the ass.
Now, to Linux. With the except of two distributions out of hundreds, NONE of the Linux distros are owned or managed by a corporation. Most distros are volunteer created, maintained and run. Donations are asked for - not demanded. The software is free. It's open source so anyone can examine the code and find problem or vulnerabilities. They don't track you. You own your computer. Only Red Hat and Ubuntu have some kind of organizational cash and skill set to create a centralized server for a secure identity database. Everyone else? Nope. All those operating systems will become illegal.
I am not fully convinced that the idea of the laws are put there to "protect the children" from inappropriate internet content. That's what parents are for. Content of this type of that is marketed towards children is relatively easy to find, trace and people who provide it can be arrested. Having companies hold sensitive, personal identification data on their servers to loot is just a money grab for them and any hacker inside or outside said companies. Why do I think this? Because Apple, Microsoft and Google have all been quiet about these new laws. You have to go to their walled garden (prison) and eat their shit. No choice. No privacy. No way out. They own your computer, your data, your software, your life.
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