Comment by mayneack
8 years ago
IANAL and all that and it doesn't bother me, but the first thing I thought of was the age related ToS restrictions from the HBO Silicon Valley show.
From the HN "legal" page:
> If you are under 13 years of age, you are not authorized to register to use the Site.
https://www.ycombinator.com/legal/
I assume no 12 year olds actually try to follow this boilerplate on the internet. Do sites that require a DOB to sign up reject those under 12?
The legal restrictions are not actually on Liam, or any user. They are on the site itself. The law in the US prevents the collection of any personal information from anyone under 13 years of age. Once you are 13 years old, you are a trackable, surveillable, profilable, saleable commodity. Prior to that, though, your personal info is protected from collection.
But... HN doesn't actually collect any personal info. So, that's likely either a reflex inclusion of such a clause or just an abundance of caution.
I just assumed no people actually try to follow this boilerplate on the internet, glad to see the this knowledge is being passed down through generations.
If he's not authorized to register on the site then the ToS can't apply to him, can they? At which point he can register, but then...
HN doesn't take PII (just a username/password), and doesn't take a birthdate either for verification, so COPPA probably would not apply.