Hacker News Reader

Comment by jacquesm | Hacker News Reader

There is no way that this will happen on any Linux box that I use. And this is why I'm an enemy of device attestation and the requirement to register operating systems in the first place, no matter whether it is Apple or Microsoft.

View on HN

Once the new Poettering startup took off you won't get any choice. SCNR.

I have all the choice I need, I can build Linux from source and I'm old enough to know this stuff will outlast me.

F*ck Poettering. Want to bet that once he's done the damage his company will be acquired for a large amount of money by Microsoft? This is just another Nokia for them.

If you're unaware, the new Pottering company is about bringing Secure Boot and remote attestation to Linux. If you don't run approved systemd Linux, you won't be able to access banking websites. Now that's a real slippery slope.

Looks like you're yet another person speaking out of their ass. There is no age attestation in the California bill. You specify an age at account creation that sites and apps must query. And they cannot fall back on other methods like uploading your drivers license to websites which is rapidly becoming a thing in red states. There is no verification. Just a system that enables your OS to respond to age queries and provide a privacy enforcing acknowledgement. This is in direct contrast to red state laws which require you to upload your drivers license to sites to verify your age. This enables parents who give a fuck to setup accounts for their children which reports their age to apps/websites. No more entering in random digits at random prompts. A consistent age qualifier set by the admin of the system. The websites cannot require further validation. No license uploads or anything else. This is a far better solution than anything else being implemented yet it stirs up far more ire from morons because it's California doing it not Texas. Maybe you'd rather upload your drivers license to access apps and websites. I don't. And I resent ignorant fucks who pretend like having your account provide an age range is so much worse than what everything else is trending towards.

For fucks sake, this would make your life easier. Instead of having to enter your DOB for everything you access, your OS based on your account can just send it. I'm tired as fuck of Steam asking my age even though my Steam account is 21 years old. If Steam and other websites / apps could query the age I've specified that would be far better and less disruptive.

> You specify an age at account creation that sites and apps must query.

The Internet has been a free place for 30+ years and I don't see a reason to change that. I grew up with the ability to access all kinds of content on the Internet, in an unrestricted manner, and it is sad to see that decision makers now want to take this away from younger generations.

We must absolutely resist any attempt at profiling Internet users. Age is only the first step. If people give in now, the next step will be other personal information, and it will also be done in the name of "protecting children" or "catching terrorists" as always. The writing is on the wall.

You grew up without parental oversight. I did too. This is an attempt to give parents the tools to manage what their children see on the internet. I disagree with that parental oversight probably far, far more than you do. I think it should be a crime when a parent indoctrinates their child into a religion. But this is a counter to far worse laws like requiring you to upload your photo ID to websites to get access. This explicitly forbids that sort of privacy violating situation.

> This is an attempt to give parents the tools to manage what their children see on the internet.

You're just gullible.

There is no website that I've ever uploaded my driving license or other ID to, the only place that I need that for is my bank and that's about a real world relationship, not about an online one.

Any website that wants me to verify my age is going to have to do without me, that's just none of their business. What children see on the internet is not going to change because of this, any parent that wants to modify their kids' behavior is going to have to do some actual parenting rather than to rely on gatekeeping technology because kids are far more capable than their parents when it comes to circumventing such restrictions.

Right. Never come up with a technical solution to a social problem.

its not the responsibility of the state to provide tools for parental oversight, full stop.

Are you aware that there are bills along similar lines in a majority of US states and at least one is reported to require using identity validating services to ensure the age is correct?

How will that be accomplished?

How will these laws be ammended in the future?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com