this post was submitted on 26 Jul 2025
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I've seen this suggested elsewhere and it seems like the least intrusive suggestion to me - why not simply use the device as the age verification. Almost every phone/tablet/computer already knows your age through it's own sign-up/activation method, so why not allow the device to offer an API that provides age verification to sites that require it.
It could simply be a permissions-based answer where an adult site requests a yes/no answer to the question "is this user an adult" from the device and the user is prompted to provide the permissions for the site to have that data.
This would solve the problem for the vast majority of iphone/android/windows/macos consumers.
None of my devices required any kind of sign-up/activation.
I mean, great? Most mainstream devices do however, whether it's an AppleID, Google account or Microsoft account.
It's not a requirement on Android. Like at all. My Windows 10 also isn't signed into Microsoft Account.
There absolutely is a minimum age requirement to set up a Google account, which you can see from their Ts & Cs. Whether that is enforced is an entirely different question.
You don't need a google account to use android.
No you don't, but like I say, I'm talking about the majority of users.
Again though, and I'm copying this from a previous response, I think it's worth remembering that this is a suggestion, and not even originally mine. If you're happier to use the current multitude of age verification services that differ on a per-site basis, with all the security vulnerabilities, risk, and inconvenience that entails, then feel free. Or bypass them using the methods suggested.
I'm literally just providing a better technical solution than has been implemented. What I'm not suggesting is "this is the answer to everyone's problem".