Age Limit

I'm just wondering, why does Brilliant have to set it's age limit at 13 years?

There are lots of people all over the world younger than 13 who would like to learn but are under 13 so they can't make an account. If you think that people under 13 are immature and are not responsible enough to manage an account, you're wrong. The people who join Brilliant are people who want to learn, they are not the people who just sit around and don't take things seriously. Even if they are those kinds of immature people, they why do they join?

I just need to know why they choose to set the age limit at 13. Can't they lower it even by 1 year?

- This was inspired by a status message.

Easy Math Editor

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`\sum_{i=1}^3`	$\sum_{i=1}^3$
`\sin \theta`	$\sin \theta$
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Comments

I cannot speak for this website, but I think the reason is a legal one.

There is a law called the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (known as COPPA for short) whose aim is to protect the privacy of children. My understanding is that if a company wants to collect any personal information on a child who is under 13, then the company must first get parental consent. Complying with this law can be a hassle, so a lot of companies deal with this law by restricting their services to children who are 13 or above.

I am not saying that this is fair, or right, or even the reason why this website has this policy; I only offer this in that it may inform your viewpoint.

Jon Haussmann - 3 years, 10 months ago

Alright, thanks a lot, now I understand.

William Huang - 3 years, 10 months ago

Yup. The main reason is COPPA compliance.

Calvin Lin Staff - 3 years, 10 months ago

Thanks for bringing this up. I just tested it and I just got the message: "Sorry, you must be 16 years or older to use this site."

I completely understand that there is some line in the sand regarding legal implications, but there must be a workaround. Could you sign up for an "anonymous account", and not provide a last name (or even an email?). Again, totally in the spirit of making this free and open for all; as is, I cannot encourage some of my enthusiastic students to use this brilliant resource!

Bryan Zachary Bassman - 3 years ago

The reason: GDPR. Currently, there are no workarounds.

Silas Hundt Staff - 3 years ago

Many thanks for the swift reply (and apologies for the delay on mine!)

We've had plenty of fun with GDPR at our school, and we have managed google accounts: any chance there might be a way of working with that? If necessary, we could get individual parent consent as well.

Thanks! -ZB

Bryan Zachary Bassman - 2 years, 9 months ago

@Bryan Zachary Bassman – Hi Bryan – could you email us: support@brilliant.org so we can work through the details?

Silas Hundt Staff - 2 years, 9 months ago

Math	Appears as
Remember to wrap math in `\(` ... `\)` or `\[` ... `\]` to ensure proper formatting.
`2 \times 3`	$2 \times 3$
`2^{34}`	$2^{34}$
`a_{i-1}`	$a_{i-1}$
`\frac{2}{3}`	$\frac{2}{3}$
`\sqrt{2}`	$\sqrt{2}$
`\sum_{i=1}^3`	$\sum_{i=1}^3$
`\sin \theta`	$\sin \theta$
`\boxed{123}`	$\boxed{123}$