Date: Fri, 22 May 2020 22:41:27 -0400
From: Kathi Overton <kathi at bungalow.org>
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Free online Balticon

You could always give them an =E2=80=9Capproximate=E2=80=9D date - sort =
of like how location services sometimes generalize the area you are in. =
Provide the correct year, but change the month/day. Or even change the =
year by one or two. If all they are doing is certifying that you are =
over 13, then you have done that, and =E2=80=9Canonymized=E2=80=9D your =
data in a way that shouldn=E2=80=99t affect them.

Kathi D. Overton
kathi at bungalow.org

> On May 22, 2020, at 9:48 PM, Keith F. Lynch <kfl at KeithLynch.net> =
wrote:
>
> I attended -- or rather watched -- one presentation this evening.
> At first I thought I was the only audience member, since there was
> no audio or video from anyone else.  It was a good presentation, but
> it felt like watching a YouTube video, not like attending a con.
>
> I go to cons mostly for interactive events, especially unscheduled
> ones.  This Balticon uses Discord for that.  I tried to use it, but
> it insisted on knowing my birthday.  It claimed it needed it only to
> ensure that I was over 13.
>
> I'm not willing to provide my full birthday, as it could be used for
> identity theft.  I don't trust Discord, or a rogue employee thereof,
> not to sell it.  I tried giving just the year, but it insisted on the
> month and day.  Since my birth year isn't 2007, they can tell whether
> I'm over 13 by the year alone.
>
> Either they're idiots or they're dishonest.  Nothing keeps someone
> under 13 from lying about either their age or their birth year.
>
> So unless someone knows of a workaround, it looks like I won't be
> participating in the online Balticon after all.
>