Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!bloom-beacon!bu.edu!bu-cs!m2c!wpi!macman From: macman@wpi.wpi.edu (Christopher Silverberg) Newsgroups: alt.bbs Subject: Re: BBS Birthdays. Message-ID: <6851@wpi.wpi.edu> Date: 17 Jan 90 02:06:23 GMT References: <33661.25b18c71@kontu.utu.fi> Organization: Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester ,MA Lines: 48 In article <33661.25b18c71@kontu.utu.fi> eholmberg@kontu.utu.fi writes: >> we need to exlude you from certain 18-over, 21-over, 30-over sections. > >Actually, you do not need to know the birthdays for that. All you really >*need* to know is, whether the user really is over 18, 21 or 30.. > >Please remember, that asking one's birthday is also illegal in >some countries. Sysops should therefore be careful while asking >information. In Finland, asking one's birthday is somewhere >between legal and illegal, but asking one's social security number >can be considered as a violation against privacy. At least the >law does give us free choice if we want to give the information >or not. Still, some BBSes *require* giving the social security >number. If the sysops get comments about that, they commonly >throw the user out.. If the sysop is using a good piece of software, then he'll be able to set up areas of a bbs accessible only to certain age groups. The program will check the birthdate, and then allow/disallow access after comparing to the current date. This makes the sysop's job easier since he wont have to go through his user log every year and update 200 or however many users for their age. Birthdates is an option much easier, cleaner, and accurate than simply asking for an age. It is absurd that someone would object to giving his birthdate and not object to the age question... if the user doesn't like it, well, that's one less bbs he'll be able to use i guess... while the rest of us enjoy the benefits. It much be pretty boring having your personal life locked up where noone can see it... As far as this privacy thing goes, i dont know about all the users, but I am in the USA... where people have inherent rights? One of these rights is free speech and the right to ask simple questions. A BBS is not a right... it is a privledge... an extra bonus... therefore, if a sysop wants to discriminate on the basis of age, (or if the sysop just wants to ask a simple question), he damn well has the right. And i think these rights are honored in most countries around the world. (If Sweden is an exception, then we'll just have to be glad we dont live in that oppressive society) -- ============================================================================== (.) (.) | Chris Silverberg, WPI Box 719 | BBS Sysop: Main Street U.S.A u | USENET: macman@wpi.wpi.edu | 2400 baud - (508) 832-7725 \___/ | BITNET: macman@wpi.bitnet | Fido: 322/575 - Second Sight BBS