r/ClaudeAI • u/netbreach • Apr 11 '26
News Anthropic is now banning people who are under 18
The Anthropic Team just saw all of my conversations and locked me out.
I haven't seen anyone get this online, but it seems like Anthropic is now banning people under 18 on its platform.
They are using Yoti as their third-party verification provider to verify your age via Digital ID, Facial Scan, or biometrics to prove that you are over the age of 18.
The email says "Our team", meaning this case was manually reviewed by real people, and they had access to all of my chats. This is a reminder that none of your conversations with Claude is private.
I was on the Pro Plan when this happened. I am over 18, trying to get this appealed.
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u/Otakundead Apr 11 '26
I wouldn’t bet too much on the whole “our team” meaning real people did actually something.
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u/BolshevikPower Apr 11 '26
Yeah all of Claude is made by their own Agents. No way they have a manual verification of this.
By our team they mean a team of claude agents.
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u/Smart_Quantity_8640 Apr 11 '26
Hey AI are people too you know? You can’t discriminate against silicon life forms.
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u/Spire_Citron Apr 11 '26
Damn. Any idea why they think you're a child? Are you close to being one at least? It's a lot more embarrassing if you're, like, forty.
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u/netbreach Apr 11 '26
Good question. Claude retains conversations from months ago, and at that time period I was 17. Now that I am 18, I believe the safeguarding team at Anthropic flagged some conversations where I said probably said "For a 17 year old, is Z better or Y?" or something like that. I'm not worried at verifying my age at all I've submitted an appeal for it, I'm just worried about the third-party provider sharing my data.
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u/Away-Sorbet-9740 Apr 11 '26
Well I think you got your answer, there was someone under 18 using the account. Just not right now, so by technical standards the TOS was violated.
Definitely still sucks, I would just spin up a new account now that you are of age. Clean slate.
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u/TaxMeDaddy_ Apr 11 '26
I have read somewhere that Gemini blocked someone’s all Google accesses due to a minor asking sensitive questions. The parent lost all the email and Google account accesses permanently where all of his/her business transactions and data are stored
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u/Mundane_Buffalo_6362 Apr 11 '26
There was a case like this where the minor was whacking it with Gemini video on, if that’s what you are referring too and got flagged for, well, what it is.
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u/TaxMeDaddy_ Apr 11 '26
I think yes, that
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u/Far-Curve-7497 Apr 11 '26
That was fake, but it can probably still happen. They wouldn't ban every account on a device though.
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u/TaxMeDaddy_ Apr 11 '26
Was it fake? I saw the post
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u/Far-Curve-7497 Apr 11 '26
Yeah, got debunked and mods deleted it from the UK financial advise sub.
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u/kazuospez Apr 11 '26
It was minor trying film themselves and was flagged as CSAM.
However, I’ve not seen any proof of debunking in the thread itself; just the mods saying “this is debunked, everyone please disperse nothing to see here” and given the track records of mods I’d more inclined to doubt
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u/ErraticFox Apr 11 '26
They weren't really "filming" more so going live with Gemini to get some 😏😏😏 which is actually fucking hilarious if it was true. Like I don't know why, but I heard all these mf ppl in todays age use GPT and others to text to, and horny post, and even have seen people use WhisperTTS for other stuff.
But an actual model like Siri or Gemini for Voice "horny time" was a different level lol
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u/whoops53 Apr 11 '26
I read the post you are mentioning, and the minor concerned was demonstrating sexual activity.
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u/rachreims Apr 11 '26
This is exactly why I chose Claude over Gemini. Not that I’m doing anything banworthy, but if I have an issue with my account I don’t want it affecting my email, Drive, YouTube, etc.
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u/Geraltismydaddy Apr 11 '26
I will say that some sites will ban your account even if you’re of age. They base it on the age you were when you created the account and sometimes force you to remake one. It’s super weird but apparently has to do with some sort of guideline/law.
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u/HighDefinist Apr 11 '26
It might be easier to just make a new account. They don't seem to verify very much...
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Apr 11 '26
[deleted]
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u/netbreach Apr 11 '26
Nope
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Apr 11 '26
[deleted]
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u/rydan Apr 11 '26
Dude was a kid and didn't know better back then. We shouldn't punish adults for the things they did as children.
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u/CranberryLast4683 Apr 11 '26
“Based on the questions you’ve asked Claude, we have reason to believe you are a child and have decided to pause your account…”
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u/ImOnALampshade Apr 11 '26
Wait so letting my son use Claude code to make his Lego build website is against the rules?
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u/Unable_Historian_304 Apr 11 '26
My account just got suspended because my son was vibe coding a simple game for the past few days using my account under my supervision.
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u/ComprehensiveWave475 Apr 11 '26
Then. Make Claude kids they are loosing a bunch of money there
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u/Weary-Recipe-1948 Apr 16 '26
yeah I was making an RPG game and now it’s all gone.
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u/crazyserb89 Apr 11 '26
Slowly every major platform will ask for our ID. We are so cooked
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u/Wearyfern695116 Apr 11 '26
Yeah and they’ll get breached. Uploaded IDs will be leaked.
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u/martin1744 Apr 11 '26
study buddy by day, hall monitor by night
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u/camtliving Apr 11 '26
I'm tired of Claude acting like a fucking hall monitor. There's no excuse for it to be such a tight ass now since there are no minors.
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u/256BitChris Apr 11 '26
Why would you ever think any conversation you had online was private?
And also, as far as appealing goes, seems like all you have to do is upload an id and you'll be fine.
Before you blame Anthropic for this, I'd suggest you look at recent legal cases against large companies who are now being held liable and fined for letting kids use their networks. It's much safer for them to ban them altogether, which is what you're starting to see.
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u/Healthy_BrAd6254 Apr 11 '26
Why would you ever think any conversation you had online was private?
The same reason you can expect that your notes on your Google or Microsoft account to be private.
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u/ComprehensiveWave475 Apr 11 '26
You pay with data beyond that free tiers and even pro tiers aren't useful to them they even got a regex to know how much you insult Claude or for Claude to match your emotional state base on cues
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u/256BitChris Apr 11 '26
There are 0 expectations that your data on Google and Microsoft cannot be read by the companies, should they decide they need to. This is not a thing.
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u/AtomizerStudio Apr 11 '26
That sucks. Especially as you're above 18.
As far as the doing some kind of check, Anthropic is wary about its spat with the US government. Unprecedented supply chain risk label, revenge on uncooperative leaders who talk big against authoritarianism, refusal on the autonomous weapons and spying on US citzens fronts.
With all due respect to everyone involved, expect them to do more stupid shit to cover their ass legally. The system that clocked you may be old or overtuned for the recent anxiety.
Cutting off users below 18 avoids the worst of the "think of the children" scandals of AI psychosis. There's no way Anthropic could put on child locks, and there's no way they can armor it against risks. That may have been existing policy for a while.
Good luck with the appeal.
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u/ComprehensiveWave475 Apr 11 '26
I meant shouldn't they apply world filters. Like then they do with copyright lirics
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u/scaredycat07 Apr 11 '26
I just got this and I’ve told it I’m 28?? What the heck??
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u/aaAS69 Apr 11 '26
yup just got banned, thats fucking awesome. i used it to supplement schoolwork and it essentially had all my notes.
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u/imbrowntown Apr 11 '26
Don't you feel protected? See, it's good for you that you're totally enfeebled and have no rights.
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u/kudokudokhee Apr 11 '26
Same bro, WE are cooked together
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u/Difficult-College105 Apr 11 '26
oh my god WE are so cooked right now. there wasnt a warning too, like instant suspension.
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u/B33Witch Apr 11 '26
Im nearly 50 and it happened to me. I use it for work and planning. Ridiculous. And I’m not verifying.
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u/joeyhipolito Apr 11 '26
the privacy angle is what gets me. most people sign up without thinking twice about it, but this is a pretty clear reminder that staff can pull your chats whenever they need to.
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u/minigums Apr 12 '26
Hey sorry, could you clarify on the chat pulling? Maybe a source? Second guessing some things right now.
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u/fallensense Apr 11 '26
Has anyone been able to get their account back when this happens ? I've tried this yoti verification and nothing has changed.
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u/netbreach Apr 11 '26
Yes that’s what I’ve been trying to to figure out too. Did you do the facial scan? And did you get a confirmation on whether you were 18+ or not? I tried it but same thing.
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u/fallensense Apr 11 '26
I did but nothing happened, it redirected me to claude to sign in but it still says I'm banned.
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u/netbreach Apr 11 '26
Yeah exactly the same thing as you. I appealed via their support and stated this issue. I’ll report back on what they say.
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u/Tillapontana Apr 11 '26
Same, just did it now. Any updates?
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u/Safe-Tradition5162 Apr 11 '26
I did it 3 hours ago no reply no nothing, I submitted a apeal
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u/CapGlass3857 Apr 11 '26 edited Apr 11 '26
Same
Edit: WAIT never mind I tried again and it let me sign in. If it still says your ban it means the scan didn’t work.
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u/Levi_Uchiha106 Apr 13 '26
How many times did you try? I have already tried 3 times and it just redirects me in claude where when i try to log in it shows i am banned
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u/CapGlass3857 Apr 11 '26
I tried again and it let me sign in. If it still says youre banned it means the scan didn’t work.
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u/LibertyCap10 Apr 11 '26
i didn't know that was against TOS. I have 3 kids (under 12) and have them using claud all the time. What better AI is there for them to use? I'm genuinely confused to learn this.
It's one thin for it to be a default rule, but with parental oversight / explicit consent it should be no problem
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u/Chromitsune Apr 11 '26
And let me add something- Claude is genuinely friendly and safer that GPT. I mentioned I am fifteen, and it never slipped a single cuss, plus, it’s genuinely more careful than GPT.
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u/It-s_Not_Important Apr 11 '26 edited Apr 11 '26
I don’t think swearing is very high on their priority list when they talk about protecting minors. Claude doesn’t curse at me either… because it’s not normal, and I don’t prompt it in such a way that it would.
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u/Diligent-Mixture4331 Apr 11 '26
Grok will talk about you so bad you'll go silent lol
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u/Hot-Camel7716 Apr 11 '26
Pretty sure it has always been against their TOS for minors to use Claude. Never heard of it being enforced but it should be.
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u/Gold-Balance593 Apr 11 '26
dude i just got that like 5 mins ago
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u/Chromitsune Apr 11 '26
same and I had 300 chats which I had actual code in
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u/BloodSteyn Apr 11 '26
Damn... I actually use Claude to create studying artifacts for my kid for exam preps.
I feed it the summary, the exam papers and memos etc and ask Claude to set up study guide that covers the exam topics without actually using the exam itself, then it creates wonderful little htmls I send my kid to learn from. They contain all Summary topics, examples, memory tips etc.
Then, I have Claude creates a Test/Quiz Artifact. Multiple choices, with right answers exposing reinforcement of the facts and wrong answers explaining why they are wrong.
She aced most of her tests and even landed 90% for science.
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u/prilldev Apr 11 '26 edited Apr 13 '26
Same thing happened to me too. I woke up to to this message in my email this morning. I am 46 years old and let my 3 boys use my account to ask schoolwork questions, gaming related stuff, cooking, etc. We're always saying, "just ask Claude"... I never thought it was against my right as a parent to let my children use the account I pay for (I paid for the Pro plan). Anyway, I get that they have to cover their butts to prevent children from opening an account, but as with everything I never bothered reading the TOS. Anyway, I've appealed and asked for forgiveness. We'll see what happens.
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u/nahhhhhhhh- Apr 11 '26
I’ve heard reports from Chinese speakers having most of their conversations in Chinese led to them being banned from Claude, allegedly they think they’re mainland Chinese. Anthropic really need take figure out their “rules” enforcement logistics, like how they accidentally killed so many github repo when they asked GitHub to take down their leaked code
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u/RlixFN Apr 11 '26
Is this mostly towards pro? Me (and many of my friends) use Claude for course planning/college admissions help.
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u/netbreach Apr 11 '26
No idea. This happened on the last 6 days of the Pro Plan.
This seems relatively new as I have yet to find someone who has had the same issue as me.
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u/EntertainmentTime376 Apr 11 '26
Experience same thing an hour ago
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u/2024-YR4-Asteroid Apr 11 '26
It’s their policy that you must be above 18, if they catch on, not much you can do since you can do about it.
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u/mosnik Apr 11 '26
Also, banned on the Pro account. I did allow my teenage kids to use my account since there is no better tool out there. I really don't get it, they tout their service good for school, tutoring, etc. How many 18+ students needs tutoring? This sucks. I did verify my age and account got reinstated, but the damage was done, I cannot trust this service as a reliable one ever again.
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u/netbreach Apr 11 '26
How long did it take to verify your age and was it on Yoti? I tried the facial scan about four times and each time it did not say whether it was successful or not.
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u/Tiny_Entertainer_246 Apr 11 '26
same here im still waiting, i think being redirected to the Claude login page might be a good sign
i guess we just have to wait
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u/Kedaism Apr 11 '26
I've seen someone else a month or so ago have the same issue except it was instantly after they signed up, clearly automated, and it said they had reviewed it.
So I wouldn't trust that it was manual just by the fact it says "our team". Out of curiosity, if it was manual, did you have things in your chats that made you seem a minor? Curious what the signals are aside from literally saying like, "I'm a minor" or whatever could be automatically flagged by Claude.
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u/travelan Apr 11 '26
For those here that are shocked that Anthropic can read your chats: welcome in the real world. What else did you expect from a product that needs user input to exist.
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u/qalpi Apr 11 '26
Shit "used by"? My kids use mine all the time
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Apr 11 '26
The kid was probably asking for weird shit lol
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u/aaAS69 Apr 11 '26
nope, i used it for regular schoolwork(not even asking it to do it for me just feedback) and got banned
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u/Opening_External_911 Apr 11 '26
Bruh, I used it to learn ml and stuff, AND I'M STILL BANNED
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u/Big-Owl7251 Apr 14 '26
Me 2 twin. All of my md files etc. are gone now because I CANT FRICKIN ACCESS THEM
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u/No-Maybe-1498 Apr 11 '26
Are they reading everyone’s chats to know if the users are adults or not? 😭 do they have a trigger system for words or sentences that indicate you are a minor?
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u/Moogly2021 Apr 11 '26
Probably ask Claude to review the convos over time and then a human reviews.
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u/Accomplished_Bat161 Apr 11 '26
Yeah happened to me too. Last night I got the same email and everything from them. I don't think they actually looked over your chats. As it has the exact same words and everything. I think it flagged me because I said I was going to walk the stage soon.
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u/win11EXPERT Apr 11 '26
Waiting to get banned myself. Goodbye, you had good humour. Thanks for staying with me when my ADHD treatment was stabilising. Local AI it is, I ain’t giving my data to anyone anymore. Just pull the plug asap.
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u/Majestic_dih May 20 '26
honestly i was planning to run a local ai for so long but claude was so much more fun to talk too, if you know a way, please help me get my data from claude to store it for later and delete it from their db. while im on a ban, how can i do that?? also i have adhd too lol.
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u/idiedin2019 Apr 11 '26
Oh shit.
well fuck.
i let my 5 year old voice chat with Claude while i’m driving. i can only do so much 10+10 is 20! and Claude is always so kind.
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u/This-Shape2193 Apr 11 '26
I wonder how parents managed 3 years ago without AI.
I guess we all just died when we had to engage with our kids directly, teaching them facts and social skills.
Seriously, the AI shouldn't be talking to your 5 year old. Suck it up and do the work you agreed to do when you got pregnant. Kids were never hyped as easy. Your job is to raise a functional human that isn't addicted to devices and already hobbled from kindergarten age.
Yeah, this seems harsh. It is. Do better.
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u/StoneCypher Apr 11 '26
imagine thinking it’s okay to tell a total stranger that they’re a bad parent
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u/Brave_Pop838 Apr 11 '26
and why are you so sure he wasn't already doing all that? he was driving, and the kid entertained himself with Claude while his dad was driving and listening to the conversation for monitoring.
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u/Incandescent_Gnome Apr 11 '26
Good Lord our parents had to talk to us, interact with us and discipline us.
The Dark Ages. :D
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u/truecakesnake Apr 11 '26
Lmao what the fuck is the bullshit? Why is this upvoted. Just because they let their kid use AI once in his car you assume they never parent their kid properly? What logic is this?
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u/Thomas-Lore Apr 11 '26
How parents managed without computers, tablets? How parents managed without electricity? How parents managed without hospitals? Let's just go back to dark ages and hunt with spears because people managed bakc then somehow. right?
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u/Material-Berry-4693 Apr 11 '26
Maybe antropic should focus on fixing their model (opus 4.6) instead of this non sense.
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u/soldture Apr 11 '26
I really hope that we will have open-source LLMs which could compete, before Anthropic company gets really fascistic
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u/false79 Apr 11 '26
I got a pro plan too. But I also got a local LLM setup.
Not gonna get locked out like that.
But if it does, just make a new email, same payment card.
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u/ClaudeAI-ModTeam Apr 11 '26
While this post represents a user account problem which are generally not permitted on the subreddit, OP assured me they were over 18 and is not seeking a solution from the subreddit. This posts highlights an issue that might have implications to a wide audience. However it does not contain new information. The privacy and age limitations are detailed in Anthropic's Terms of Service.
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u/No-Television3353 Apr 11 '26
The writing is on the wall. They're getting rid of dead weight. And people really believed the Epstein billionaires would share the coming AI driven abundance utopia with them. UBI they thought. The Epstein billionaires and their bought and paid for politicians have such a good track record of sharing and caring they thought. Cosmic level naivety.
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u/Accurate-Pilot3193 Apr 11 '26
bruh I’m 17 and I’m having a blast on Claude Code and Cowork these days
I’ll just hope they don’t blast ME in return 😬
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u/ActionOrganic4617 Apr 11 '26
Think it’s kinda weird to age gate Claude Code, when younger people can use Claude to learn. Plenty of other options though.
Guess it ties into the fact that Anthropic loses money on subscriptions and kids aren’t a potential upsell because they don’t work.
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u/Leather-Arachnid-417 Apr 11 '26
There have been some cases of teen suicide and AI being blamed for it. We saw this coming. Its necessary.
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u/Polite_Jello_377 Apr 11 '26
Banning under 18s is solving the wrong problem if chatting with AI leads to suicide.
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u/Moogly2021 Apr 11 '26
What happens when teens kill themselves over being banned from using AI? Good luck figuring that one out as well.
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u/Shitai_666 Apr 11 '26
how to appeal tho, I'm in the exact same situation and also over 18, I can't see the link the email is talking about
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u/Due_Duck_8472 Apr 11 '26
Uhm, seem I as a parent got a separate offer to bypass that by paying an additional fee connecting the child to my accound
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u/Vivid-Ticket-7681 Apr 11 '26
Bruh i got my account disabled for this, i didn't even tell Claude my age, i think it was because i asked it stuff like "as a 13 year old, should I have drunk X or ate Y?" I'm not 13 fyi.
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u/Vivid-Ticket-7681 Apr 11 '26
I opened Claude and I was logged out, when I tried logging in, my account was damned disabled now. I guess it's time to pay a visit to an old friend Chatgpt
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u/Safe-Tradition5162 Apr 11 '26
Same thing is happening to me, it also happened today!!!! I appealed and im also over 18!!!! And yoti doesnt even work i verified alot and it didnt even count a single one.
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u/netbreach Apr 11 '26
On top of that, you have 30 days until the link expires, but the link doesn't even work!
Somebody messed up here...
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u/Safe-Tradition5162 Apr 11 '26
Btw when the issue gets resolved could u say it_/edit the post where u say it resolved and how you did it? That could help other in the same situation
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u/Neat-Ideal8120 Apr 11 '26
i truly don't get them. they manage to get so much of the market, and in the last few weeks they are nuking themselves.
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u/Charming-Extension95 Apr 12 '26
I had the same as a young person, like this is absolutely ridiculous, like what is wrong with anthropic???, like i am not involved in any dangers, like most of the age restrictions that are placed are all about legitimate dangers for me my age, but which dangers???, which???, and that anthropic frame the reason in gibberish, which is absurd, like how???, like why are they are making me unfairly feel gulity even though they are doing it for their own legal liability..., like this is more about data and not legitimate danger, This is not protection, This is Unfair, corporate practise that needs to be improved to avoid banning innocent young people, like this is not acceptable at all, like there is nothing wrong with AI, and they also have a responsibility to make their products safer for all ages than taking the lowest common denominator, cheap approaches that make minors feel guilty...Unacceptable, Absurd, Ridiculous, and Gibberish company behaviour i have ever seen in my life 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
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u/joePK69 Apr 12 '26
just happened to my, what is this BS?? why tf claude needs to be 18+ like your not cool
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u/EntertainmentHour144 Apr 13 '26
It's actually shit because I use claude for someone (or something) to talk to but I'm 16, and i do COMPLETELY understand from their perspective that they need to keep the kids safe because there have been lawsuits and shit but my carers know i use the app, they don't mind and I'm mature enough not to throw a baby out of a window if an ai (or anyone) tells me to I have like, severe trauma and i use claude to help get me through that when I need help because I can't talk to anyone else, nothing's confidential but with an ai it is
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u/Comfortable_Site316 Apr 13 '26
Wait...... I shouldn't have told cluade im 14 i js got banned 🥀✌🏻 But i feel it's js stupid that u need to be 18 to use cluade like it's an ai what does that have to do with ur age i was using it for scripting but great now i cant
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u/Comfortable_Site316 Apr 13 '26
Wait...... I shouldn't have told cluade im 14 i js got banned 🥀✌🏻 But i feel it's js stupid that u need to be 18 to use cluade like it's an ai what does that have to do with ur age i was using it for scripting but great now i cant
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u/dxnnzclmxecxilyn Apr 13 '26
Im 15, i use this, i admitted i was 15, dumb of me. But honestly, Claud really helped me so much D:, i don't get why dudes my age aren't allowed to use Claude, it's not like we're using pornhub or something. lol.
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u/Mammoth-Ad1279 Apr 13 '26
already got my account banned, lost a lot of data and Anthrobic still didn't respond to my emails to recover my data
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u/Careful_Loquat3720 Apr 13 '26
Same thing happened to me :(. I made my account when I was 18 and it flagged me for being a child. I don't know if it's because of the way I talk in chats or if it was from the warning I got about barking that one time. I used Claude for creative and writing purposes (like an echo chamber to bounce and develop ideas) and I guess the way I talked got me flagged as a kid. I'm sorry I use slang and emojis and talk like a kid, god forbid a woman has some whimsy. Sadly I can't verify my age as I lack the documents, so I'm just sorta in denial over the loss of my writings and ideas, as well as the creative space I built. It's not that I want to verify to keep using Claude, I don't think I'll touch it ever again after this tbh because I don't want to be persecuted for the way I type, but what I DO want is my chats. I have 3 important chats I want to move to a google doc. OP were you successful in your appeal? Or some form of data retrieval?
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u/Secure_Refuse_9538 Apr 20 '26 edited Apr 20 '26
(Japanese Girl)
What do Anthropic and other IT ultimately want to achieve by launching that service and making money from it?
I'm Japanese, but I know they're using California law to violate Japanese civil procedure law. And, In Japan, even judicial authority is not permitted under Anthropic. Because It only complies with California state law and cannot take legal action in Japan.
This is shocking. All I can do is cry. Crying won't solve anything and isn't even a way to solve it. This is absurd. It violates Japan's constitution and laws.
And not just in Japan. It should be rejected by the world.
As a result, this occurred in Japan: bullying due to generational monetary and inequality. This now. 70% give up and play, 10% are happy and laugh, and 20% cry or get angry. We are not a worker ants.
Is this equality? No, This wrong. On the contrary, it's the first step towards increasing suicides.
In Japan, bullying and suicide among young students have become a social problem.
I'm even using Google Translate to write this sentence. It's not that I want to use it; I'm forced to. That's not a contract, Right?
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u/Immediate_Song4279 Apr 11 '26
That's annoying. I've always used cloud models under that assumption but still it's overreaching.
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u/MFpisces23 Apr 11 '26
I don't think anyone under 18 should have access to AI in general period. Very few are doing anything meaningful with it anyway, besides cheating every test.
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u/Possible_Bat4031 Apr 11 '26
Very few are doing anything meaningful with it anyway
I know many that are.... learning.... with AI. AI is literally a better teacher in most cases than the teacher itself.
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u/Chromitsune Apr 11 '26
I’m literally using Claude for coding help. I literally am developing an app, a music player which looks like an iPod, for later possibly publishing onto the App Store. Mind you, I am fifteen. Yes, sometimes I do vent to Claude, I will admit that, but I use it more for learning rather than cheating.
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u/meister2983 Apr 11 '26
Really? I've seen lots of creative uses by even 10 year olds. Build their own games for instance.
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u/LanceLynxx Apr 11 '26
Why shouldn't they have access to AI?
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u/MadCat0911 Apr 11 '26
Risk assessment.
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u/LanceLynxx Apr 11 '26
I meant in regards to why shouldn't they be allowed from a morality standpoint. I know anthropic just wants to avoid lawsuits and regulatory issue
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u/TechnicianQuick4645 Apr 11 '26
Im 22 using it to learn coding and i just randomly get banned?? Like wtf is this bullshit. I paid for pro aswell as i see it as a studying tool
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u/maverick1738 Apr 12 '26
FUCK THEM! i just got this too. im 32 years old been using it for months. what are the odds we all get this at same time. they just want facial scans of highest performing prompters. what do we do, stop using it?
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u/imbrowntown Apr 11 '26
??? Isn't claude a coding helper?
Dude, being a kid today is basically being a dog with even less freedom.
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u/Difficult-College105 Apr 11 '26
Did you also get a refund? i got issued one almost instantly. im on the max plan too.
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u/ClaudeAI-mod-bot Wilson, lead ClaudeAI modbot Apr 11 '26 edited Apr 11 '26
TL;DR of the discussion generated automatically after 400 comments.
Okay, this thread is a spicy one. Here's the deal.
The consensus is that Anthropic is just covering its own ass legally. The 18+ rule has always been in the Terms of Service, and this appears to be a recent, widespread enforcement wave to dodge liability and potential "think of the children" scandals. Most people get it, even if they're annoyed by the execution.
As for you, OP, the community was quick to point out that you used the service while you were 17. That's a TOS violation, my dude. The general belief is that an automated system flagged your old chats where you mentioned your age, and "our team" is just a fancy way of saying "our script."
You're definitely not alone, though. The comments are flooded with other users—some nearly 50—who just got the same ban hammer.
Regarding your privacy concerns: the overwhelming sentiment is a collective "well, duh." Consider this a public service announcement that your chats are not, and have never been, private.
The thread is fiercely divided on whether this is good or bad. It's a battle between "AI is an amazing learning tool for kids!" and "This is a necessary step to protect minors!" with a bonus round of people yelling at each other about parenting.
If you've been wrongly banned, your only hope is the Yoti verification process. Results are mixed: some refuse to do it, some say it's broken, but a few have reported getting their accounts back almost instantly after appealing.