The BrickLink website, which now has apparently been subsumed by LEGO, requires your birth year to enter – you can't enter at all if you input a year.
I don't know you, but I refuse to give this kind of information. So bye bye BrickLink!
I contacted their customer service and told them that I'll simply avoid the BrickLink website if it requires my birth year. Their loss.
If you also disagree with this I encourage you to get in touch with them as well.
They’ve required it since September. You can enter any year from 1900 up to 18 years prior to the current date and gain access. I spam 1999 since it’s the fastest valid number for me to type. It’s tedious but I doubt they’re tracking any of this information since there is no verification and the entries are so frequent per non-signed in user.
Lego’s own website has previously also required a similar age filter in order for adults and kids to proceed to the store or to the play zone, respectively. Some sites ask if you’re over 18 because it is illegal to track certain browsing data for minors in some jurisdictions, plus Lego doesn’t want minors making purchases for toys using their parents’ credit cards.
BrickLink as a business sees itself as a marketplace first and an index second, which is why they want to ensure the users are adults in order to buy or sell. There are no ads on the site, so if you’re not already a buyer or a seller (which require you to specify your age), your boycott means just about nothing to the site.
I don’t like it, but I don’t think it’s as bad as you’re making it out to be.
It isn't a boycott really. That website means just about nothing to me as well, so I'll just avoid it. But I think it's important to put our foot down in the little things as well.
That’s pretty much a textbook boycott and call to action.
It means enough to you for you to have made this post and to attempt to persuade others to take similar actions.
If you’re only now noticing the age filter, then you’re also not a regular enough site user for them to care if you stay or go.
There is no negative consequence to lying about your year of birth to gain access to the site. The only real problem for users is the routine moment of inconvenience.