

If this was actually about protecting children then they could simply ensure phones had an ability for parents to enable a firmware lock which added these protections to their child’s device. No need for people to provide age verification credentials to the government. Of course, it’s not really about kids it’s about normalizing explicit tracking of adults’ internet use.

I charge my EV using excess solar energy during the day. It’s handy to be able to start and stop charging based on solar output. We also use the app to send map locations to the navigation system. Finally, while I’m privacy sensitive and having a GPS tracker exposing my location through an API I don’t control is dodgy as hell, being able to confirm the vehicle location remotely has come in handy on occasion.
While some neck beards may prefer to live in the 80s, I enjoy using and benefit from modern technology. I just wish regulators would require companies to use open systems. Tech in general isn’t’ the problem. Proprietary tech is the problem.