Holy. Shit.

The UK government is so god damn dumb.

Another reason sideloading is important.

> can't have apps without an account
> cave have an account without a loicense

Will this finally kill off the "Apple is private enough" mantra I always hear?

Mixed feelings about this.

However, ethical questions aside, and from a purely legal conformation standpoint, if the phone validates the user is over 18 and passes only that info as a token to whatever application or website requests it, then it's a good implementation. It means elimination of multiple validation requirements, minimal transfer of data to third parties, fewer sources holding personal data, etc. Whether it works that way remains to be seen.

Disgusting.

I haven't read this particular law. But one proposed in Colorado still requires service providers to look for other indicators of age and override the one reported by the OS.

unfortunately, that is not how cults work.

if a phone is tied to a svc acct like a telco provider- age verification should be automatic as THAT provider cannot open an acct for a child.

Sideloading isn’t a real term - there is only loading a better OS than whatever spy-tech google is offering.

You can’t “sideload” hardware you own - you just install whatever software you like and prefer

FUCKING THANK YOU!

What the actual fuck?????????

Wow, thats fucked. I hope Australia doesn't decide to do this as well. This shit is happening so quickly at the moment

Jesus Tittyfucking Christ, yes it is. I'm not typing out "installing software from outside the Google Play Store" every time, so you can go away.

I'm not in favour of any of the age restriction stuff UK government is doing.

Good argument, but:

Phones in the UK can be bought without a contract and untied to any network.

Pay as you go SIM cards can be bought without a contract.

Credit cards used to make purchases online require users to be 18 or over. Debit cards on the other hand can be issued to those under 18 (but a bank account will require evidence of ID, address, age).
https://www.gohenry.com/uk/blog/financial-education/what-age-can-you-get-a-debit-card-in-the-uk

me too but i'm not overly optimistic. i don't think there is a strong enough culture of anti-surveillance

can a debit card be created by someone under 18? ie does a parent have to do it then give johnny a card? can a bodega owner sell a prepaid to a minor, and can prepaids be used?

just wondering where up the chain the responsibility lies. i’m all for corps being held to task, but also parents. if i handed my kid a phone it was my responsibility.

now he had phones that he acquired. i saw them. so i know it is largely irrelevant my thoughts on chain of concern.

in short: this is a terrible tar pit of gov horseshit sold in the “protect the kids” camp but really is “build a bigger fascist state db…”

Well, since I'm not doing that, that would prevent me from having to install the apps that every damned company seems to insist I install rather than having a website. Kinda makes me wish for this nonsense to come to the US.

You could go with something in between? Side loading is a loaded term created to insinuate we are doing something we shouldn't be doing.

2026, the year of the PWA.

No it's not. Someone just made that up.

Yes, Apple did. Before that, it was called downloading

no problem, I'll just use apps from outside of the App Store, right?

It's always funny when Apple fanboys try to whitewash its brand.

"Apple is the most private mobile operating system there is that cares for its users that stands up to governments" until it doesn't but that's still great because it is how it is and apple has to obey laws and its fine because they hide their involvement with feds so well with marketing, and the cult accepts whatever they do, so they get a pass.

https://web.archive.org/web/20260226022937/https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/12/apple-admits-to-secretly-giving-governments-push-notification-data/

Have you tried not being a cult member to manufacture consent for corporations?

That or PR agencies are picking up fediverse to push people into being docile consumers.

This is what happens when your phone is no longer YOUR phone

Once again, no they didn't. Literally just look it up. You have the knowledge of the world at your fingertips.

The term "sideload" was coined in the late 1990s by online storage service i-drive as an alternative means of transferring and storing computer files virtually instead of physically

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sideloading

Had I said "downloading" it wouldn't have made much sense, would it?

Teens can travel alone and setup their phone in France or Ireland, or buy their phone from a dealer. All the cool kids will have free phones and be on snapchat, forcing everybody else to follow suit.

Yep, and that definition was definitely what you meant lmfao.

You’re obviously within spitting distance of the point, you basically spelled it out in your last sentence, just, I don’t know, reread your words slowly?

listen, I've been in technology since before i-drive existed and I've never heard of i-drive nor do I care about the vocabulary they used.

The first time I ever heard the term sideloading was when these mobile stores started using it to make other options sound illegitimate.

You could, if you lived in the EU :)

Exactly. It's important that we stop saying "sideloading", we should just say "install directly" or some other non-loaded expressions

I think they did this first, at least they passed the law first. Our "left center" government in action.

Dude, apple IS the man

Not a single word in this rant has any relevance to my comment.

Why is there no privacy respecting solution for age verification? Like the government giving you some sort of token that says you’re over 18 and that’s it?

Kinda just sounds like you were looking for an excuse to aggressively rant at someone. I don't know how you came away thinking they were an apple fanboy after reading that comment full of ifs and general skepticism.

purely legal conformation standpoint

It's still stupid even if it's required by law.

The technical implementation, or the law itself?

Because its not about age verification, its about tracking and controlling you and making a privacy respecting solution isn't compatible with that.

Law itself

Yeah, no doubt.

There is!, one of the officially recognised and approved ways is credit card verification, however afaik only steam is doing that.

Both

My Apple account is probably old enough to vote…

Because then you can share the token and everyone can use it

I'm sure a more robust solution is possible though.