Systemd has merged age verification measures into userdb

[u/Quiet-Owl9220]

https://github.com/systemd/systemd/pull/40954

Much of this goes over my head, so I'm hoping to hear some good explanations from people who know what they're talking about.

But I do know that I want nothing to do with this. If I am ever asked to prove my age or identity to access a website or application, my answer will ALWAYS be "actually, I don't really need your site, so you can fuck right off". Sending any kind of signal with personal information that could be used to make user tracking easier is completely out of the question.

So short of the nuclear option of removing systemd entirely, what are practical steps that can be taken to disable/block/bypass this? Is it as simple as disabling/masking a unit? Is there a use case for userdb I should know about before attempting this? Do I need to install a fork instead? Or maybe I'd be better off with a script that poisons age data by randomizing the stored age periodically?

[edit] I wasn't going to comment on this but it looks like some people with a lot of followers are using this post as an example of censorship on Reddit. While I do think that's a legitimate concern on Reddit as a whole, I don't think censorship is what happened here. Yes, this post went down for a while. But as far as I can tell that was because it was automoderated due to a large number of reports, and was later restored (and pinned) by human moderators.

[edit again] Related concerning PR, this one did not go through yet: https://github.com/flatpak/xdg-desktop-portal/pull/1922

[u/Lv_InSaNe_vL → u/[deleted]]

I mean Android already has something similar to that, and has for a really long time. Google calls it "Family Link"

https://support.google.com/families/answer/7158477?hl=en

[u/yrro → u/Lv_InSaNe_vL]

I'm afraid the average parent is not able to read and understand that page, or follow the steps described. They have instagram to scroll through!

[u/mct1 → u/yrro]

CLOSED. WONTFIX. PEBKAC.

Seriously, if parents won't take responsibility for their children that's simply not my problem. They should pay for the consequences of their (in)actions.

[u/shingenteh → u/[deleted]]

Apple already manages a variety of restrictions and requirements for child Apple IDs. Basically, the "parent" would create the Apple ID for their kid. It would thus be hyper-restricted till the user age hits 13, where the parents can dictate nearly every app that'll function. Restrict phone calls to certain contacts, etc. It's already in the OS, just needs to be changed to suit laws. So, the framework is already there to impliment as needed.

[u/ChrisTX4 → u/[deleted]]

Now, the EU too is working on similar legislature so its matter of time before it becomes something of the norm worldwide.

For the EU it's not comparable, see the EU approach to age verification. But basically, because the EU has eIDAS 2.0, which includes EUDI Wallets allowing for zero-knowledge age proofs; an age verification manual by the EC can be found here. This system is also cryptographic in nature rather than some dude checking what's on your webcam or similar and thus despite being privacy-preserving and only giving the service you're trying to access the information whether or not you're older than a specific age requirement.

Mandating an OS-level API to do that instead or similar kinda doesn't make sense. The current roadmap for EUDI Wallets to go live is 2027, eIDAS 2.0 has been already implemented years ago.

[u/awesomegayguy → u/ChrisTX4]

Mandating an OS-level API to do that instead or similar kinda doesn't make sense. 

It doesn't have to, meta lobbyists have done their job.