Stores the user's birth date for age verification, as required by recent laws
in California (AB-1043), Colorado (SB26-051), Brazil (Lei 15.211/2025), etc.
The xdg-desktop-portal project is addi...
You are correct. Similar to how /etc/passwd used in all Linux distros has had mostly neglected “GECOS” field for full name and phone number for decades. I am yet to hear of SMS validation done against such phone numbers.
Why not extend the GECOS field? I haven’t seen the conversation but assuming it has to do with access control. By putting it in passwd/shadow you’re limited by filesystem permissions on the whole file, meaning it becomes impossible or annoying to do selective disclosure to certain user/process without bolting some service similar to what systemd is doing on top.
You are correct. Similar to how
/etc/passwdused in all Linux distros has had mostly neglected “GECOS” field for full name and phone number for decades. I am yet to hear of SMS validation done against such phone numbers.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gecos_field
Why not extend the GECOS field? I haven’t seen the conversation but assuming it has to do with access control. By putting it in passwd/shadow you’re limited by filesystem permissions on the whole file, meaning it becomes impossible or annoying to do selective disclosure to certain user/process without bolting some service similar to what systemd is doing on top.
Lots of references to discussion and alternative proposals are tracked by Kicksecure/Whonix: https://www.kicksecure.com/wiki/Age-api