[Foundation-l] Wikimedia Census

Mon Feb 11 15:28:32 UTC 2008

Andrew Whitworth wrote:
> On Feb 11, 2008 9:16 AM, Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> From a practical standpoint, we can't be certain that anybody is or is
>>> not 13. Even though we could state that you must be over 13 to
>>> participate, we can't possibly validate users who claim to be. While
>>> it doesnt work in all circumstances, a policy of "don't ask, don't
>>> tell" might be in order here. At least then, if there was a
>>> COPPA-related problem, we could plead ignorance.
>> Not asking for ages leaves a major hole in the survey - age is one of
>> the key discriminators between different demographics.
> 
> True, but telling people that you are going to discriminate against
> them (by collecting less information from them) if they fall into
> certain age ranges is just going to motivate people to lie. Some
> people might reason "I can help more on the census if I lie about my
> age and therefore get asked more questions".

A sinister plan: as everybody the same questions, but don't actually 
collect responses from people younger than 14.