The Child-Safe Operating System

Part two of a series on the recent age verification legislations

In the previous previous post, I discussed at length my issues with the series of bills. This post comes in pretty hot, as I wrote off directly in the same thought pattern as the previous post. Please review it for a better understanding of the things I’m specifically calling out here.

Implementation

I am a huge proponent of Linux. I love the freedom that it can offer. I love that it can do pretty much anything you want it to do. I love the plug and play options it provides and I love the customizability it offers as well. I recognize that it is also very easy to break a computer by changing or adding too many things to it. One of the coolest things that can be done is dual booting a computer, where you install multiple operating systems and select which one loads when you turn on the computer. What if we were able to have a dual-install system where instead of modifying the applications themselves to fit an age, we created operating systems geared towards different aged users?

Oh, would you look at that, things like that have already existed: Let me present Kano OS. Unfortunately, this particular set up is no longer in active development, so don’t try to download it right now, but the idea was exactly what I’m talking about here. Create a kids centered and safe operating system. It can include a few games, learning activities, and just enough things for children to do and have fun with technology. This particular system was geared towards younger children, likely <13, but the concept applies to any age. Your OS can be limited to applications which are verified by some third party to be appropriate for children under the age of 13. Oh wait, that also already exists too. Apple already has a system in place for developers to to tell Apple who should be using their application and explains how to set that value to developers.

Do the same thing for Children, Pre-Teens, Young Teens, High School teens, and you have your self a whole system to essentially install different operating systems depending on the age of your child. You hard code in different user permissions in the applications, i.e., no children environments can install applications, pre-teen environments can only install applications with parental permission, young teen environments are allowed to install a subset of applications, or have an override from their parents, and high school teen environments can install anything with a notification going to the parent. For an example of how to do this, we can consider “immutable OS” from the Linux field (look at Steam OS for an example of what that might look like) then combine that with different desktop environments to entirely change the look and feel from fun and whimsical to focused and distraction free. Along with that, it would be very easy to also set up locks and user permissions. We already do this for work computers; We could easily do the same thing for family computers. Everything from blocked websites and applications to restricting API calls to the computer could be done via the same permissions already set in place. We simply need to include these tools in by default on every machine (phone, tablet, laptop, desktop, game console, everything).

Requirements

I see it as follows:

• We set up an operating system with multiple levels of security, content restriction, control over the system.
  • This would likely take the form of different desktop environments to make computers easier to interact with for young children and more controllable for adults.
  • Pre-configure settings to restrict websites and applications with known levels of age appropriateness, e.g., blocks on porn websites and subreddits with NSFW content.
  • Completely block access to application stores or certain applications which could create an easy risk to inappropriate content, such as no web browser and application store for child profiles, no ability to install discord or in game chats for pre-teens, etc.
• On initial set up of the device prompts for an adult to configure the device for the intended person. This could looked
  • One takes it out of the box, turn it on, and see a welcome screen, much like on Windows of MacOS.
  • The set up provides a series of environments which showcases and describes the basic differences between each one, much like what we see when selecting a theme on Discord or Slack.
  • The adult is expected to pick an environment which makes the most sense for the intended user. This can suggest an age range for each environment, similar to the bands suggested in California’s bill, however, the device does not store the age, nor do applications ask for it.
  • The computer (phone, tablet, game console, etc.) then is able to actively remove, block, and prohibit content or behaviors based on those pre-established filters and permissions, exactly as what happens on any work computer.
  • Last and most important of all, some sort of help line must be provided to adults setting up the computer. This could take the form of a chatbox or a phone line. Not an AI Chatbox like ChatGPT, but an actual human on the other end of that conversation, which is able to listen to the specific needs of the child or teen, and help guide the adult to the correct configuration.
• After everything has been configured, we allow a pin or password to be input to modify any setting seen necessary by the adult.
  • Say for example, one has a teenager who has a delayed metal development. This teenager likely should not have the environment and permissions which allows them to modify the system, or install applications or games which have content that is of a heavier theme than they should be viewing. The parents need the ability to go in and change the environment at will, they cannot be locked into the environment that is inappropriate.
  • We also naturally allow for the other direction. As one’s children grow older, they should be allowed more freedom and practice controlling their own experience with computers.
  • Another critical part to be modified is the blocked content list. This system should allow for a parent to quickly and easily add and remove content as they see appropriate. An example might be adding additional websites of information they don’t want the child to interact with (maybe certain news or social media sites) which were not included by default. We may need to open up certain applications based on the child’s needs, e.g. their class in school has a discord channel, which is typically blocked.
• A final important step is that all of these features can be completely ignored by the adult stating that they are simply setting it up for themselves. The adult will understand when is appropriate to go to certain websites, or they can choose to restrict themselves by will power, or adding things to the block list by themselves.

Where have we done it before

The main benefit (as I see it) if taking this approach is simply that the computer is not actively offering up information to any 3rd party who will almost never have your safety and best interest in mind. I’d also like to propose that this is a system that can be provided by any os provider: Microsoft, Apple, the major Linux Distros, any organization with centralized authority has the ability to create multiple interface to interact with their product and offering. Consider the following two products as examples:

• Samsung has created a version of android that is able to switch between a smart phone interface like what we are all used to at this point and a docked environment which looks like any PC or laptop. To activate this environment, you can plug a Samsung phone or tablet into a display of some kind, enable Samsung Dex, then use your phone like a docked laptop. It has a very different feel and interface when compared to a Samsung phone. Two different environments on the same device for different use cases and workflows.
• The Steam Deck from Valve has created an environment for Linux which focused entirely on Games. This environment funnels all resources to the primary window that is open, allowing for better performance, but also a more focused experience when playing games on the device. However, they have enabled users to quickly switch to the “desktop” environment, which turns your steam deck into a regular linux computer, with an app store, terminal, and ability to modify much of the system. They also have turned on the “immutable OS” I mentioned in the previous post to ensure longevity and stability keeping users for accidentally breaking the operating system.

Naturally, neither of these are examples of this “child-safe operating system” I’ve been talking about this whole time, but I bring them up as examples of devices and operating systems that can change and modify themselves based on the needs of the user. We are not locked down to what has already been created. We can always modify software to change with us as the need arises.

Caveats

I also recognize the control that this can give to corporations like Microsoft, Google, and Apple in that they still likely have an assumption of the age of the child, based on the environment you select. Additionally, the band lists that they establish will not always line up with what the parents believe is needed. This is why I believe the openness to modify any setting is strictly necessary. We should not be depending on profit seeking organizations to protect our children and ourselves from the internet, but instead, we need to educate our selves and our loved ones on the best practices and be in control of what is seen of directly.

This way of going about the restrictions does assume that parents have time and effort to constantly monitor what their child is interacting with, as well as be very closely aware of what is appropriate for each age. This is a lot of work for the parents, which is why I believe the support chat line and phone line are a critical resource for parents. They should be able to contact that support line without shame, judgement, or restriction. Raising children is already hard, last thing we need to do is add more barriers to keeping out children safe.

Conclusion

This is my first view of a middle ground between restricting what children are able to see and doin on computer and on the internet. Being a child of the 90s, I have had my fair share of getting into shit I really should not have been online. Restricting what they are exposed to is an important part of making sure they grow up to be healthy adults, mentally and physically.

This approach hopefully covers the bases sufficiently to provide a age appropriate environment for each child, while also not sacrificing the vital information which can be used against us in the real world. It requires a lot of work, but so does everything when trying to do it the right way.