News on Age Verification in Utah - Would Second Life be impacted?

[Katherine Heartsong]

7 minutes ago, EliseAnne85 said:

But, how do we keep our ID's safe from being stolen if it comes to that which it may already for Tilia?

You can't. Even governments can't keep data safe, and won't try hard at all. The Canadian Revenue Agency (the Canuck equivalent of the IRS, sort of), for example, the place you must submit your taxes to every year, added a legal disclaimer this year to their e-filing that said they are not responsible for any of your data if it's hacked off their tax servers. You just hope their IT and security folks know what they're doing.

Also re: age? If I'm old enough to work in a McDonalds after hours in Kentucky at the age of 10, I'm sure old  enough to be allowed on Second Life!

Edited May 8, 2023 by Katherine Heartsong

[Love Zhaoying]

2 minutes ago, Katherine Heartsong said:

If I'm old enough to work in a McDonalds after hours in Kentucky at the age of 10, I'm sure old  enough to be allowed on Second Life!

Heck, a child older than 10 has likely been alive in two different decades.

"We believe the children are our future." - Whitney Houston

[EliseAnne85]

4 minutes ago, Theresa Tennyson said:

Is there some reason you keep cutting out the paragraphs that say what the online service actually has to do, which is to only to make a report about the issues in those stipulations? This is what goes between "the following actions:" and "(i) whether..."

(1) (A) Before any new online services, products, or features are offered to the public, complete a Data Protection Impact Assessment for any online service, product, or feature likely to be accessed by children and maintain documentation of this assessment as long as the online service, product, or feature is likely to be accessed by children. A business shall biennially review all Data Protection Impact Assessments.

(B) The Data Protection Impact Assessment required by this paragraph shall identify the purpose of the online service, product, or feature, how it uses children’s personal information, and the risks of material detriment to children that arise from the data management practices of the business. The Data Protection Impact Assessment shall address, to the extent applicable, all of the following:

I don't quite understand what you are saying?  I kept saying to read the link.  People need to read the whole thing.  

The new products, from my understanding, are that they want them more age specific, such as 0 to 5, 6 to 9, 10 to 13 or whatever.  

There is a lot of stuff involved here but people should read it.  

[Ayashe Ninetails]

4 minutes ago, Katherine Heartsong said:

Also re: age? If I'm old enough to work in a McDonalds after hours in Kentucky at the age of 10, I'm sure old  enough to be allowed on Second Life!

 

4 minutes ago, EliseAnne85 said:

What can one do.  That's going to be the law.   It's been enacted to take effect July 1, 2024 with other things needing to come into compliance before that date.  Now "tech" companies and internet companies have to 'splain what they are going to do.

There are a lot of laws on the books. Enforcing them is a whole other thing.

[EliseAnne85]

12 minutes ago, Katherine Heartsong said:

Also re: age? If I'm old enough to work in a McDonalds after hours in Kentucky at the age of 10, I'm sure old  enough to be allowed on Second Life!

Wow, 10.  Good grief.  Some laws are just all over the place.  

However, it's the business' that want to protect themselves, more than it's protecting us.  That's how I'm beginning to feel.  

But, when I was a parent, I understand how parents feel, especially with that IM thing.  We survived okay thankfully, even back then when there was nothing.  My Space hadn't even been created yet.  IM systems existed on the open web before My Space.  

Edited May 8, 2023 by EliseAnne85

[Innula Zenovka]

1 hour ago, Sid Nagy said:

Laws don't stop people from drinking under 18, laws don't stop people too drive to fast every now and then, laws don't stop the use of drugs by some, laws don't stop online gambling in countries and US states where it is forbidden by law, the list is endless.
It all boils down to enforcement.

How do you enforce that 16-18 year minors don't use the Internet as if they are adults? The average teen is still way more computer savvy than their parents and teachers. Not to speak about their politicians.

Yes, but the fact that no law will enjoy complete compliance is no reason not to have the law in the first place -- that's why we have not only laws but police officers and courts to enforce them.

I don't know what the Utah legislators have in mind, but certainly both the UK and EU are in the process of updating age verification requirements for minors accessing social media with a view to protecting children considerably younger than 16-18.

https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/news/eu-to-introduce-code-of-conduct-to-protect-minors-online

The laws are directed primarily at social media, particularly (at least in the UK) Twitter, where recent research by the Children's Commissioner has discovered that young teens, and even pre-teens, are encountering really quite hard-core stuff by accident, rather than at preventing adolescents who really want to access.    

Quite how it will all affect SL, if at all, I don't know, but I'm pretty sure that, if it does, we'll all be encountering the same verification requirements in multiple contexts online.   It's certainly not going to apply only to SL.

 

[Love Zhaoying]

Do we really want children to know where Prim Babies come from?

 

[Love Zhaoying]

11 minutes ago, Innula Zenovka said:

I don't know what the Utah legislators have in mind, but certainly both the UK and EU are in the process of updating age verification requirements for minors accessing social media with a view to protecting children considerably younger than 16-18.

https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/news/eu-to-introduce-code-of-conduct-to-protect-minors-online

The laws are directed primarily at social media, particularly (at least in the UK) Twitter, where recent research by the Children's Commissioner has discovered that young teens, and even pre-teens, are encountering really quite hard-core stuff by accident, rather than at preventing adolescents who really want to access.    

Quite how it will all affect SL, if at all, I don't know, but I'm pretty sure that, if it does, we'll all be encountering the same verification requirements in multiple contexts online.   It's certainly not going to apply only to SL.

Thank you.

[EliseAnne85]

45 minutes ago, Theresa Tennyson said:

Is there some reason you keep cutting out the paragraphs that say what the online service actually has to do, which is to only to make a report about the issues in those stipulations? This is what goes between "the following actions:" and "(i) whether..."

(1) (A) Before any new online services, products, or features are offered to the public, complete a Data Protection Impact Assessment for any online service, product, or feature likely to be accessed by children and maintain documentation of this assessment as long as the online service, product, or feature is likely to be accessed by children. A business shall biennially review all Data Protection Impact Assessments.

(B) The Data Protection Impact Assessment required by this paragraph shall identify the purpose of the online service, product, or feature, how it uses children’s personal information, and the risks of material detriment to children that arise from the data management practices of the business. The Data Protection Impact Assessment shall address, to the extent applicable, all of the following:

I don't think the above is all this new Act is about:

And, children will now be defined as under 18 unless it's for specific ages such as 0 to 5, 6 to 9, etc.

This bill would enact the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, which, commencing July 1, 2024, would, among other things, require a business that provides an online service, product, or feature likely to be accessed by children to comply with specified requirements, including a requirement to configure all default privacy settings offered by the online service, product, or feature to the settings that offer a high level of privacy, unless the business can demonstrate a compelling reason that a different setting is in the best interests of children, and to provide privacy information, terms of service, policies, and community standards concisely, prominently, and using clear language suited to the age of children likely to access that online service, product, or feature.

Edited May 8, 2023 by EliseAnne85

[Krystina Ferraris]

4 hours ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Sometimes, we just make people laugh. Hopefully they aren't "pointing and laughing", that is rude and can be more hurtful!

It could also be similar to one of the many posts that are like, "In Britain, we invented 'the thing', so everyone else is wrong."

I agree though, it seems more like politics and a bit off-topic.

Having said that, I do see some "topic drift" in general. The original point of my post was to ask if anyone thought SL would be "impacted" by these new US laws.

("Mah post! Respect mah authoritie!" -Cartman)

That's exactly what I was thinking Love, I might be tired and missing the reference to electing dictators and such 😃

[Rowan Amore]

5 minutes ago, EliseAnne85 said:

I don't think the above is all this new Act is about:

And, children will now be defined as under 18 unless it's for specific ages such as 0 to 5, 6 to 9, etc.

This bill would enact the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, which, commencing July 1, 2024, would, among other things, require a business that provides an online service, product, or feature likely to be accessed by children to comply with specified requirements, including a requirement to configure all default privacy settings offered by the online service, product, or feature to the settings that offer a high level of privacy, unless the business can demonstrate a compelling reason that a different setting is in the best interests of children, and to provide privacy information, terms of service, policies, and community standards concisely, prominently, and using clear language suited to the age of children likely to access that online service, product, or feature.

Linden Lab already has this policy in effect.   Anyone under 18 has restrictions.  There are also different privacy policies for those under 13 who access for child specific regions such as camps and schools whch require vetting by LL.

 

 

[Love Zhaoying]

1 minute ago, Rowan Amore said:

Linden Lab already has this policy in effect.   Anyone under 18 has restrictions.  There are also different privacy policies for those under 13 who access for child specific regions such as camps and schools whch require vetting by LL.

 

 

Idea: Require all children to be Tinies, so we can easily identify them on sight. 

[EliseAnne85]

18 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

Linden Lab already has this policy in effect.   Anyone under 18 has restrictions.  There are also different privacy policies for those under 13 who access for child specific regions such as camps and schools whch require vetting by LL.

 

 

How does this work for free accounts?  I can go anywhere, I think?  However, with this account, it's a building account and I don't go much of anywhere so I have not tested what this free account, no info on file, can access.  With my previous account to this one from about five years ago, I had a waiting time to be verified for Adult to open in search.  It still works this way with a wait period to be verified for Adult?   But, if one is not verified as an adult, some of the other articles I've read are saying one will defer to a minor's account if not age verified as 18 and up.  

It's too early to say if this will bring forth any changes to SL, I think.  

Edited May 8, 2023 by EliseAnne85

[Arielle Popstar]

1 hour ago, Katherine Heartsong said:

Also re: age? If I'm old enough to work in a McDonalds after hours in Kentucky at the age of 10, I'm sure old  enough to be allowed on Second Life!

The sexual content available in SL advertises alternative lifestyle and addictive prone situations which would not be in the child's interests to be exposed to until they are older and have the capacity to understand the ramifications of being involved with such.

Eating McDonalds might be addictive, but not working there.

[EliseAnne85]

30 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

Linden Lab already has this policy in effect.   Anyone under 18 has restrictions.  There are also different privacy policies for those under 13 who access for child specific regions such as camps and schools whch require vetting by LL.

 

 

Also, from my understanding, knowing a child's age (child as defined as under 18) is what they are trying to do away with.  This is all very new, so bare with me here.

So, they want the adults to verify as 18 or over; and, if they can't, they revert to a restricted minor's account which is not age specific and thus data is not collected on the minors.  

 

Edited May 8, 2023 by EliseAnne85

[Rowan Amore]

14 minutes ago, EliseAnne85 said:

How does this work for free accounts?  I can go anywhere, I think?  However, with this account, it's a building account and I don't go much of anywhere so I have not tested what this free account, no info on file, can access.  With my previous account to this one from about five years ago, I had a waiting time to be verified for Adult to open in search.  It still works this way with a wait period to be verified for Adult?   But, if one is not verified as an adult, some of the other articles I've read are saying one will defer to a minor's account if not age verified as 18 and up.  

It's too early to say if this will bring forth any changes to SL, I think.  

There is no difference between free accounts and others in regards to accessing moderate or adult content.  There is, at this time, no age verification process so they have worded the ToS to say something to the effect of, 'provide accurate information' to be able to access.

If you put in your RL birthday when registering your new account, then you're basically verified. 

This is why I mentioned earlier, there is NO WAY as of this time to verify anyone's age.  People disliked it in 2009 when they tried it. 

[Love Zhaoying]

6 minutes ago, Arielle Popstar said:

The sexual content available in SL advertises alternative lifestyle and addictive prone situations which would not be in the child's interests to be exposed to until they are older and have the capacity to understand the ramifications of being involved with such.

Eating McDonalds might be addictive, but not working there.

That's a tough one, hard to compare "child labor" with "children exposed to adult content"!

Good job!

 

[Theresa Tennyson]

13 minutes ago, Arielle Popstar said:

The sexual content available in SL advertises alternative lifestyle and addictive prone situations which would not be in the child's interests to be exposed to until they are older and have the capacity to understand the ramifications of being involved with such.

As opposed to safe things like, say, 5 gallons of 325-degree oil.

[Arielle Popstar]

18 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

That's a tough one, hard to compare "child labor" with "children exposed to adult content"!

Good job!

 

Well in SL it is not just being exposed to adult content as in pictures but being potentially involved in adult situations, some of which are arguably not even safe for adults as per a reddit channel I came across this morning where posters from here were trying to stop different virtual lifestyles they have come to realize are not good for them.

[EliseAnne85]

46 minutes ago, Arielle Popstar said:

Well in SL it is not just being exposed to adult content as in pictures but being potentially involved in adult situations, some of which are arguably not even safe for adults as per a reddit channel I came across this morning where posters from here were trying to stop different virtual lifestyles they have come to realize are not good for them.

It's not just lifestyles but addictions in SL other than Gacha.  Gacha was the one punished while the other addictions were let slide.  And, I disagree that gambling is just a game of chance.  Gambling to me is a game where one can win or one can lose it all.  Gambling doesn't have anything to do with prize games, imo.  Gambling is like the lottery, most likely one will end up with nothing, zero.  But, I don't want to discuss an off topic thing.  It's just that there are other addictions in SL that also exist in rl - shopping and sex are two of those addictions.  Being involved in things where one feels unsafe - get out of it is about all I can say.   

Edited May 8, 2023 by EliseAnne85

[Ardy Lay]

Not only have I been exposed TO adult content, but I have also been exposed AS adult content.  Somebody gave me a tee-shirt.

I, uhm, I don't think I have a solution and will just keep watching this situation develop.  I want a tee-shirt that says that too.

Hoping for the best, but will I know it when I see it?  Or will I even be allowed to see it?

I don't worry about children wanting to know what the adults are up to.  I worry about adults wanting to know what other people's children are up to.

If the children don't go "Ewww!  Gross!", then we are probably already too late to save them from knowledge, but we should endeavor to offer them the best guidance we can and in a manner that they find genuine.

Okay!  Okay!  I'll stop quoting Grandma now!

[Love Zhaoying]

16 minutes ago, Ardy Lay said:

Not only have I been exposed TO adult content, but I have also been exposed AS adult content.  Somebody gave me a tee-shirt.

I, uhm, I don't think I have a solution and will just keep watching this situation develop.  I want a tee-shirt that says that too.

T-shirt says:

"I was Exposed to Adult Content,

and all I got is this lousy T-Shirt!"

[Love Zhaoying]

Just now, Katherine Heartsong said:

I don't think those 10 year olds were supposed to be, but there a group of (R)s in the US that are dedicated to eliminating or seriously reducing child labour laws.

So long as we don't employ underage users as Second Life "Content Moderators"..

That would probably break several laws.

[Katherine Heartsong]

1 minute ago, Love Zhaoying said:

T-shirt says:

"I was Exposed to Adult Content,

and all I got is this lousy T-Shirt!"

I think I have one of those after visiting Las Vegas as a 12 year old with my parents walking the Strip. I have flyers, anyway.

[EliseAnne85]

7 hours ago, Katherine Heartsong said:

Quote

The laws [in multiple states] aim to expand permissible work hours, broaden the types of jobs young workers are permitted to do, and shield employers from liability for injuries, illnesses or workplace fatalities involving very young workers.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/11/us-child-labor-laws-violations

You know, the idea the government needs to stop interfering with so much stuff. Except the nude stuff, then they'll interfere.

Dizzy, yet?

Dizzy yet, certainly, yes.

That was going on and it was not covered under news feeds I read.  

 

Edited May 9, 2023 by EliseAnne85