[charcircuit]

Apps requesting an age is not extraneous and there are many legal and safety reasons why an app may collect this information. If the operating system doesn't do it you run into the cookie banner situation where every individual site has to implement a dialog box asking the user instead of there being a standardized way to do it.

[Aerroon]

I'll bite: what's the safety reason for an app to ask for age verification?

What kind of apps do you people use that are so dangerous? Does the computer zap you if you misuse the app or what?

[charcircuit]

For example an app may want to disable chat or private messages with other people if the user is a kid.

[stego-tech]

Except the cookie banners are also optional, unless you're using third-party services to collect that data. Don't blame the cookie banner, blame the dozens or hundreds of "partners" that site is using to "process" your data, blame the site owner for building such a travesty of a page that they have so many "partners" in the mix harvesting extraneous info unnecessary for basic functionality instead of building a better, cleaner, leaner, targeted service.

[charcircuit]

So is an app needing the age of the user. That doesn't mean there are not a bunch of people who will collect the information. It's like saying washing your hands before cooking food is optional and that people should blame restaurants for serving food. It's not a serious suggestion. Restaurants will continue with the business model of exchanging food for money and websites will continue with the business model of showing ads. These kinds of businesses will exist forever.