User don't want their age to be shown

tenants

Well-known member
Is there a way to turn this off by default... I've had users ask not to display their age

I know users can set this their self (via /account/personal-details) but it would be nice if this was turned off by default on registering, is it possible ?

<I've asked this in the wrong forum, haven't I ? Sorry...>
 
Is it creepy?

The age is automatically calculated based on date of birth. I believe there is a legal requirement in most countries for "social platforms" including forums etc. to obtain a date of birth to verify the user is above a certain age. 13 usually I believe.
 
I believe there is a legal requirement in most countries for "social platforms" including forums etc. to obtain a date of birth to verify the user is above a certain age. 13 usually I believe.

"You must be over 18. Click Yes to Confirm" is a bit different than harvesting age for....well...why would a forum be asking that kind of personal info. Or the "male, female, unspecified"?
 
Yeah, it's called COPPA, Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. But as far as I know this is only for the USA.

That has to do with collecting information from people under 13 by which they could be identified. Interestingly, age is not considered a key indentifier.

There are other issues about the content which is suitable for different age groups and site asks are you 18 or older or whatever age applies.

Disney websites, the largest online honeypot for kids in the world, doesn't ask for age unless there's a age/content issue as you get into more mature Disney movies etc.

But for forums no reason to collect age data. Only purpose is in regard to selling advertising on the site based on age demographics.

XenForo default on using sex as the avatar fill in is also a bit creepy. Just a blank profile works.

Which leads to two questions.

1. Can the sign on age question be eliminated and the spot to insert eliminated in user profile?
2. Same for sex question and field.
 
You are obliged by law if you live in the United States: http://www.coppa.org/

Hmm...where does COPPA say you must require users to give you their age? Stating above 18 is not the same thing. Age is not even listed as an identifier for which you must have parents permission.
8) PERSONAL INFORMATION.—The term "personal information" means individually identifiable information about an individual collected online, including—
(A) a first and last name;
(B) a home or other physical address including street name and name of a city or town;
(C) an e-mail address;
(D) a telephone number;
(E) a Social Security number;
(F) any other identifier that the Commission determines permits the physical or online contacting of a specific individual; or
(G) information concerning the child or the parents of that child that the website collects online from the child and combines with an identifier described in this paragraph.
 
We collect people's name first name, last name, e-mail address etc.

We can't legally collect that information from children under the age of 13 without the parent/guardian's verifiable permission.

Therefore the solution is to prevent children under the age of 13 from registering.

That's why the date of birth is asked for.
 
We collect people's name first name, last name, e-mail address etc."
Most sites only collect email address to do a confirmation. That is the only item asked for that qualifies as an identifier. If material on site has age related issues then warnings need to be first, not after identifiers are collected.

Therefore the solution is to prevent children under the age of 13 from registering. That's why the date of birth is asked for.

All you need to do is have a note "You must be over 13 to use our site. Click yes to confirm", not ask the persons exact age. And you'd want to do that first, otherwise you are asking for TWO identifiers, age and email address and breaking the law if the person is under 13. You've collected their email and age so you'd want the "13 to register first".

Which gets back to there being no reason for storing a persons sex, age etc in member info much less displaying it to entire forum. For me as forum member, I find it more interesting not knowing that "Dark Wizard" is nineteen and "TheVisitor" is older than dirt.
 
All you need to do is have a note "You must be over 13 to use our site. Click yes to confirm", not ask the persons exact age. And you'd want to do that first, otherwise you are asking for TWO identifiers, age and email address and breaking the law if the person is under 13. You've collected their email and age so you'd want the "13 to register first".
Yes, a basic "I am over" age confirmation should be sufficient. It just so happens that most people ask for the full date of birth and that's just the way it is.

If someone attempts to register with a date of birth 2001 (for example) the registration process cannot continue. No data will be stored, therefore you aren't breaking the law.

Which gets back to there being no reason for storing a persons sex, age etc in member info much less displaying it to entire forum. For me as forum member, I find it more interesting not knowing that "Dark Wizard" is nineteen and "TheVisitor" is older than dirt.
There may be no reason for you to collect that information on your site, but some forum operators and their users may want to as it fits in with their subject matter or genre.

There's plenty of "social" forums out there that are just about being social and whatever.

Anyway, most of this is down to personal preference.

You can turn most/all of it off in the Admin CP.
 
No adult data issues, children of all ages welcome.
You've really misunderstood the point.

It really isn't about preventing children from accessing inappropriate data.

It's a law which states you can not under any circumstances legally collect personal information from a child without the express permission of their parent/guardian.
 
You've really misunderstood the point.

I thought point was turning off posting users age publicly?

Which brought up question why collect users age at all much less display it.
It's a law which states you can not under any circumstances legally collect personal information from a child without the express permission of their parent/guardian.

But by asking for email and their age (the XenForo default setting) a website would be in violation of the law already if the person was 13 or under. Whether you let them into the forum would be immaterial, you collected a kids email and birth date, two of the key identifiers mentioned under the law.

Better that XenForo had functionality for two entry questions which should cover age/content issues.

1. Are you thirteen or older.
2. Are you eighteen or older.
 
Whether you let them into the forum would be immaterial, you collected a kids email and birth date, two of the key identifiers mentioned under the law.
No... it isn't immaterial. Because you a) stop them from registering therefore b) you do not collect the data.

A failed registration attempt isn't stored anywhere, the data from the failed attempt isn't kept. Therefore the law hasn't been broken.

That might be better for you, but once again some forums may WANT to collect the date of birth and age for other purposes.
 
A failed registration attempt isn't stored anywhere, the data from the failed attempt isn't kept. Therefore the law hasn't been broken.

If the failed registration is not recorded anywhere, the forum operator would probably be safe. The privacy act is mostly about advertising and monetization which is why it is under the Federal Trade Commission

Does Xenforo keep track of failed registrations? I'd want to know the stats on my registration procedure. If I had a large number stop after a specific question in the sign up, I'd want to know about it and fix it.

but once again some forums may WANT to collect the date of birth and age for other purposes.

People should be cautious about getting age data. As we see from the OP's original post, he has people complaining about the usage of the collected age info which might make them think twice in future about signing up for any website that asked for age as it can get posted publicly.

Good to know that asking for age as part of sign up can be disabled.
 
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