From Matthew Wenban-Smith, London, UK
Matthew Sparkes writes about the tension between adults’ privacy and children’s safety online created by digital ID or age verification. There is a simple solution: require physical devices to be age-rated. Any smartphone or computer sold would have to incorporate a tamper-proof digital age identifier. It is the device that is age-identified, not the owner. Websites and online services would then be required to age-code their material, so that they cannot be accessed on age-restricted devices, in line with whatever rules are applicable within a given jurisdiction (7 March, p 10).
Parents who buy devices for their children could choose whether to buy, say, a 12-year-rated, 16-yearÂ-rated or unrestricted device.
No doubt there would be kids who manage to acquire unrestricted smartphones, just as kids manage to get hold of all sorts of illegal or age-inappropriate material. But these would be in a minority, rather than normalised and ubiquitous at any age.
