An IRL analogy is probably stores that are happy to let children shop in the vicinity of sexually suggestive items such as condoms, lube, and intimate apparel—you can get these at grocery stores even.
So it gets to the heart of what these age ratings are really for and what kind of things do we actually not want kids around. And it seems like the line is drawn at sexually explicit imagery. And so app stores in a way are kind of unique in that they apply age restrictions much more liberally than the wider world around them.
Local data or not, if I were the steward of a marketplace I’d use that position to create this kind of teaching moment for pre-developed consumers. If young people had been warned since the mid 2000s of how much of their intimacy they were handing over to Meta, ByteDance, etc. before they started, the world would certainly be better off.
How about we just don't do that capture at all?
Condoms, lubes, and intimate apparel are not threats to children. If you found children buying condoms, lubes, or intimate apparel at unusually high rates, that would be very alarming. But, normally, they are purchasing these products for very lazy adults.
There is 0 use case for a person under the age of majority to use this application. It is only usable by a person being abused.
Precisely 0 adults have charged children with the mission of f... blogging sexual activity.
“Children buying condoms or lube at unusually high rates” is a funny phrase because I don’t think I’ve ever seen a child buy either of those things. What is the threshold between usual and unusual for these purchases in hard terms?
I aspire to your lifestyle ;)
kids buy condoms for the same reasons kids used to buy cigarettes or beer. It would be super weird to see the same neighborhood kid buy condoms every week, but it's not particularly alarming on a one-time basis.
Maybe I am just very old, and I should be alarmed by a one-time purchase. I am relating the basic guidelines from my own youth.
It is plainly a bad idea by any standard to provide an application for teenagers to keep diaries of their sexual abuse.
Not that I can think of, and I’ve worked retail. I’m assuming that ‘lazy parents’ have been buying condoms and lube online for a long time now given the selection and price points available. Like you can get a hundred pack for ~$20 which is way cheaper than what you’d get at a gas station.
Revised opinion: Maybe it should be EXTREMELY ALARMING to see a neighborhood kid make a one-time purchase of condoms or lube
edit: i have worked retail but it was 30 years ago