

Kids using Facebook is an issue, but how can network operators truly verify age? - gkwelding

A good question. Apart from credit card verification methods (I'm sure that would go down like a lead balloon o n Facebook) what other methods are available to organisations such as Facebook (they claim a minimum age of 13 for users of their service).<p>Is asking for a date of birth really fulfilling Facebook's quota of responsibility?<p>What would something like this cost the big social networks, not just in monetary terms, but ease of use and user opinion?
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wmf
For all its faults, the recently-proposed NSTIC should solve this problem.
Ultimately, any solution is going to require expensive in-person enrollment.

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gkwelding
problems arise with this though when certain countries, I'm based in the UK
for example, don't buy in to this kind of idea, what then?

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wmf
Centralized Web 2.0 services tend to be based in the US since it's a large
market, and then they end up applying US law to all their users regardless of
location. Think of it as cultural imperialism 2.0. The real solution IMO is to
decentralize.

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gkwelding
Although does the standard model of countries/law stand up in the realm of the
internet. Boundaries no longer exist in cyber-space, should 'cyber-law' evolve
to take this into account?

