A deeply distressing policy
It looks like California has decided to make the absurd requirement that operating system providers must provide some type of age-verification at the OS level. Like some sort of idiot, I assumed they would be too stupid to try something so backwards in CA, but here we go.
If you’re not a computer person, it can be challenging to understand why this is so draconian and genuinely alarming. The underlying concept though is that (1) for all practical purposes, an operating system of some sort is a requirement for all computers, (2) computers are in literally every single thing we do, (3) under these rules, you are not free to choose what you run on your devices. In fact, you’ll be forced to interact a 3rd party service of unknown origin to verify your private data. Today it’s birthdays, tomorrow it’s your drivers license, per use selfie verification …
Your “user profile” across your devices is fundamentally at risk. You will be forced to share it whether you want to or not. There is not a workable version of this concept at the “operating system” level. Everything you do, share, say, interact with will be tracked and traced on the internet. Todays it’s “opt-in”, tomorrow it’s “opt-out”, and then the option just gets removed at some point. Would you feel ok with it if your entire browsing history could be traced back to your identity?
But I’ve got a VPN Blocking VPN traffic is not impossible. UK is looking into it. Although there are technical reasons why truly blocking VPNs would be challenging, pressure campaigns and use-related consequences can easily make this option unappealing for many users.
But your being alarmist Sorry. I’m a millenial and I’ve mostly observed things getting worse in my lifetime. Try a different angle.
We all (ALL) need to be concerned about this.
2026-03-04 12:34:56