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Comment by nibbleshifter | Hacker News Reader

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nibbleshifter·

They also block archive.org sometimes, among other things.

You have to go into a 3 store to get adult content unlocked by presenting ID.

It is extremely annoying.

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You don't. I can't remember how I did it but I either called them up or used on online chat thing. I definitely didn't leave my house.

Vodafone also require you to opt-in to 18+ content.

I use SIMs for both (30-day contract with 3).

I've only ever used PAYG, I don't like the idea of a contract for my mobile - I like being able to dump/swap numbers at near zero cost by just going to a corner shop and getting a new SIM.

I also don't believe in registering my mobile number to my identity. Anything to claw back a bit of privacy.

I'm surprised they don't have the option to verify age via credit card (usually a 1p transaction that gets reversed).

They do [0]. You can also do it in their app if you are on a contract and therefore over 18 by definition.

[0] http://ask3.three.co.uk/srvs/cgi-bin/webisapi.dll/,/?new,kb=...

In my experience that never worked. I eventually gave up trying to use them.

You can do through their app. But it is almost always broken. It took me months before I managed to get the app not to give me a 'temporary error'.

How would having a credit card prove somebody‘s age?

You have to be 18 to get a credit card

That's definitely not the case everywhere. I've had a credit card before I was 18.

It doesn't have to be perfect - the blocking thing is only a regulatory compliance and PR thing about how they're "protecting" children. As long as the regulators are happy and the PR is working, nobody internally cares or wants to make it 100% bulletproof (also because making it so will increase the support burden helping users who can't use the bulletproof verification flow despite being over 18).

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