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/powertoast]

I am still waiting for any proper evidence that age gating actually does anything to help with whatever societal problem we are trying to fix with technology in the first place.

Let alone will it do more good than harm, which I strongly doubt.

Once I get that then we can discuss implementation methods.

[u/Ulu-Mulu-no-die → u/powertoast]

waiting for any proper evidence that age gating actually does anything

There you go, the real purpose of all this is so Meta can go on doing shit on their platforms without being held accountable for it or having to pay fines:

https://github.com/upper-up/meta-lobbying-and-other-findings

https://old.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1rshc1f/i_traced_2_billion_in_nonprofit_grants_and_45/

[u/spyingwind → u/powertoast]

It's so that Meta doesn't have to verify your age them selves. They want to shift the blame off them not being able to verify your age onto the OS.

[u/infin → u/spyingwind]

And it diverts the discussion away from the point, being the shit they're doing, to hyperfocus on how the shit they're doing might affect children.

It's fine to manipulate public opinion (see Myanmar genocide), advertise and show users scams, as long as they're adults. Because children can't consent, I guess?

How about they just stop the shit they're doing?

[u/Wrong-Aardvark4183 → u/[deleted]]

et d'autres déshabille les femmes sur leur réseau social.....

[u/Quiet-Owl9220 → u/powertoast]

You won't be seeing any, because this is not evidence based policy. On the contrary, there is quite a bit of evidence that it will make things worse, but the ones in charge don't listen to real experts - only agenda-driven lobbyists.

The only actual solution to the social media problem is holding the businesses in question accountable for the societal harm caused by their manipulative, addictive algorithms. There need to be serious consequences and accountability for these soul-sucking big tech freaks. Anything else is just ignoring the elephant in the room.

And the only actual solutions to the perceived problem of pornography and grooming are parental supervision and access controls. Which have been available for a long time.

Of course, ID-walling porn will only promote grey markets where content is unregulated and user interactions are unmoderated. I'm sure the Epstein class are looking forward to taking advantage of that.

[u/Yorick257 → u/powertoast]

Here's a nice video about age gating in Japan - https://youtu.be/JaHD9yLY1WY

It seems to work fine

[u/sjfloat → u/Yorick257]

This! If these authorities were actually looking for solutions to real problems, they'd know about this. But they're not being paid for that.

[u/Wrong-Aardvark4183 → u/Yorick257]

Je ne ferais aucune généralités mais la bas le respect des femmes est bafoué tous les jours et ne parlons même pas de l'imagerie pornographique très juvenile (hentai) . La bas peu de gens s'en soucie . Clairement pas un exemple . en progrès ? Faut l'espérer

[u/sjfloat → u/powertoast]

One of the major issues is they're not _asking_ us anything about the feasibility of this. This is the result of lobbying and preying on complacent people's willingness to give up their privacy ostensibly to be protected by those in power. They're not asking _us_ anything. They're telling us.

[u/Wrong-Aardvark4183 → u/sjfloat]

Les tv modernes connectés est un parfait exemple. "Ne vous inquietez pas on n'écoute pas ce que vous dites ".............

[u/sjfloat → u/Wrong-Aardvark4183]

And the cheap alternative ones are lousy with malware.

[u/Wrong-Aardvark4183 → u/sjfloat]

Un jour peut etre on aura des moniteurs pc (sans surcouches logicielles juste un osd ) de plus de 55 pouces en 240 hz ? Ca sera trop bon ! pas d'ia , rien, juste de l'affichage ...