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Comment by mastazi | Hacker News Reader

> We have removed the provision that discourages children under 13 years old from using Audacity

This point is very important. Like many other open source projects, Audacity is used in a very large number of education-related projects. Having 13 as the minimum age was going to be a huge problem.

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I agree, but if memory servers correct they are lying here. Or at least being extremely disingenuous. They didn't discourage children under 13 years old from using Audacity. They forbade children under 13 years old from using Audacity.

That's not correct. The actual quote was:

> The App we provide is not intended for individuals below the age of 13. If you are under 13 years old, please do not use the App.

They did not forbid it.

That's a very interesting nuance. What does "please do not" mean in this context, and could its intended effect be?

Thank you for that correction, it seems I have been led astray by some interesting reporting then.

"Please do not use the App" is forbidding use of the app.

What's the motivation for age being mentioned at all?

Because children couldn't be a party to the privacy policy involved in the surveillance

Could it be made so that only adults could opt in?

Legally in the US, adults are the only people that TOS applies to. Minors can't enter into contracts, of which a TOS is one.

I need to understand. Lets say I have an inquisitive 8 year old kid at home who does arduino and pi and 3d printing and Python and now even does YouTube and stuff. They are saying now that they have implemented telemetry that a resident offline software cannot be used by aged 13 and below? Why?

What has the law to do with offline apps on a personal computer owned by a family home when the machine is supposed to be "family machine". The next thing you know windows will forbid ages 13 and below from using their products?

Its not like there are dangers of pedos by using audacity? What about "YouTube kids"? How is that allowed when its online with automated content moderation but audacity is not for kids?

As I read it this was (based on the previous revision of the policy) - "we're planning to store some data on all users, with no way to opt out. However, in some regions, we cannot/shouldn't store data on people who are 13 or under. So, if you're 13 or under, please don't use this software as we'll be storing data on you."

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