Subject: [WSFA] Re: Free online Balticon
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>
From: Samuel Lubell <samlubell at dmarc-verizon.net>
Date: Fri, 22 May 2020 22:49:33 -0400

On 5/22/2020 9:48 PM, Keith F. Lynch 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.
>
Keith, why not just give them a fake day, month, and year? For that
matter, you can create a fake badge name.