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Ask HN: What are the rules on age verification for websites?

3 points by nyjah ↗ HN
Are there spelled out rules for how to do age verification or what's necessary to have a user agree to. It just seems like every site except HN asks your permission for cookies. I have a site that is 21+ themed, but nothing for sale and not adultxxx. Just pictures of (legal for me) plants. I've tried to google it and I have found some answers, but I am reluctant to trust the AI answers I found. Any guidance is appreciated.

6 comments

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bigfatkitten
This is inevitably going to depend on the law in the jurisdiction that you're in. People on the internet can't give you legal advice, you should probably find a lawyer.
brudgers
Any guidance is appreciated.

Building something else that doesn't create potential legal liabilities is the simplest thing that might work. I mean this probably isn't the best idea you can possibly have. And probably not the coolest thing you can possibly build.

On the other hand, thinking about legal pitfalls might be your favorite hobby. Good luck.

glaucon
This https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_verification_system#Legal_... will begin to give you at least feel for the field.

If it reflects reality the areas which currently have rules are porn, social media and video games so whatever your mysterious plants are they're unlikely to have restrictions applied to them . Even those controls are restricted to certain geographic areas.

Admirably, in my opinion, the exception to this is Germany, which has gone some way to recognizing that perhaps allowing five year olds watch people having their heads blown off might be at least as problematic as letting the toddlers watch porn, still no mention of pictures of plants though.

I'm not a lawyer and I don't speak German so anyone who's interested in the German rules should confirm what I've said for themselves https://www.landesrecht-bw.de/bsbw/document/jlr-JMedienSchSt...) .

Yawrehto
If you want to avoid a hassle, I've found a bunch of sites that have something along the lines of "If you're using this site, we assume you're [13/16/18]+, please don't use this if you're under [13/16/18]" buried in their terms of service.
inquisitor27552
most of them just hope the user doesnt lie, but if it's up to me ill probably add some maths problem before they see any adult stuff.
t_hinman_esq
Hi! Your website terms of service should specify the terms under which you are offering your site and services -- verifying age is typically related to data privacy laws or sales of restricted items (alcohol, cannabis). If you're just showing folks photos of (legal) plants, it shouldn't be a huge concern, but you might want to talk to an attorney for specific legal guidance. Reach out if I can be helpful!