Gating should be done either by ZKP (zero-knowledge proofs, which don’t expose any information to any party other than “I’m at least x years old” – look this up if this is a new concept to you) or device-side by standardizing and streamlining child safety locks.
100%. If a government is truly serious about the issue, then verification can be solved quite easily with ZKPs in a way that preserves privacy.
Such databases already exist in the government, in order to provide services to everyone like healthcare, pension, elections, etc…
I don’t feel it’s elaborate at all. I like these solutions because they are actually quite simple. It’s just signing and verifying requests using asymmetric key cryptography, techniques which are known to be robust and secure. The government never knows which web services you are verifying for, and the web services never know your identity or any more information than they need to. They don’t even learn your precise age, just that you’re over 16/18/21 whatever.
Canada is very welcoming and people are friendly. After living abroad for a decade I can say it pretty confidently. Nowhere is perfect but the level of racism in Canada is very low compared to the things I’ve seen in Europe and Asia.
Not sure how it is where you’re from but don’t get caught thinking because Canada is safe that you can be careless with your stuff, don’t let your guard down with personal belongings. Don’t leave your things unattended in cafes or shops, don’t leave your mobile phone on the table, and especially don’t leave anything in your car if rent a car. Canada is safe but there is still a lot of petty theft… you won’t get mugged but someone might try to swipe your backpack at a cafe when you aren’t looking.