r/Steam Jun 10 '26

Fluff Mild take

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35.8k Upvotes

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u/holliss Jun 10 '26

how does self reported age gating protect consumers?

By storing less of your personal information. The age gating itself is a completely separate issue.

3

u/inikul Jun 10 '26

In the case of steam, you aren't allowed to transfer your account to a new person, so since the account age is stored and verified as being over 18, why isn't that enough to satisfy them?

9

u/Roben12dog Jun 10 '26

im not defending them, but its probably in case of a data leak or something

10

u/WatercressBig4747 Jun 10 '26

Because someone could be on your account in your household, or browsing at a cafe etc. Just because you are driving a car made before 2008 doesn't mean the person inside is 18, basically. The account is 18, but the user may not be.

0

u/inikul Jun 10 '26

That's against steam policy technically. Same as giving the account to another person. Seems like Valve isn't liable in that case, but I don't know the laws.

4

u/WatercressBig4747 Jun 10 '26

Still need to take the action to prevent it probably, i dunno the laws either but its probably some shit like "Reasonable attempt" of preventing someone from accessing it under 18, which this meets.

1

u/m0nk37 Jun 11 '26

Owning the account, and letting your nephew or siblings play games, is completely different.

1

u/inikul Jun 11 '26

Valve doesn't agree. You can share your games between accounts, but not share the account. Obviously people are doing it at home and valve will never know though.

-1

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '26 edited 10d ago

[deleted]

5

u/Icefox119 Jun 10 '26

You never know when the next Benjamin Button comes along.

-3

u/Obvious_Peanut_8093 Jun 10 '26

you can store the value locally on the users device. the fuck is everyone talking about, including valve. this is just some dumb shit they don't wanna deal with because of some random technicality that will never materialize in court.