Age gate uses neutral design; does not coach children to lie about their age

COPPA §312.5 and FTC Age Screen Guidance require that the age collection mechanism not encourage children to misrepresent their age. A checkbox labeled 'I am 13 or older' or a birth-year field pre-populated to make the user appear to be an adult are design patterns that coach children to lie. The FTC has cited dark-pattern age gates as evidence of bad faith during enforcement actions, because they transform a nominal compliance mechanism into a channel for knowing data collection from children. This shifts the operator from 'inadvertent' to 'intentional' COPPA violation — a distinction that affects penalty size.

Replace any instructional copy adjacent to the age input and remove pre-populated year defaults. The neutral form below shows no cutoff age before the user submits.

// NeutralAgeGate.tsx
export function NeutralAgeGate() {
  return (
    <form>
      {/* Do NOT place 'You must be 13 or older' here */}
      <label htmlFor="dob">Date of birth</label>
      <input
        id="dob"
        type="date"
        // No defaultValue
        max={new Date().toISOString().split('T')[0]}
        required
        aria-describedby="dob-hint"
      />
      <p id="dob-hint">Required to personalize your experience.</p>
      <button type="submit">Continue</button>
    </form>
  )
}

If legal counsel requires a minimum-age disclosure, place it in your Terms of Service or Privacy Policy link — not adjacent to the date input.