Voluntary Self-Exclusion From Harmful Purchases

Stopping People From Doing “Bad” ThingsThe National Voluntary Self-Exclusion program is “a free way to stop gaming [gambling] across many different websites and casinos”: you sign a form, prove your identity, and submit. It’s basically the ability to voluntarily say “please prevent me from gambling in the future”. No matter how the casinos design their labyrinths of addiction and hell and depravity or the morally-corrupt companies program their slot machines or app algorithms, the self-excluded cannot bypass this. (In reality they can; not every gambling option is included and ID checks aren’t ubiquitous and can easily be ducked, but at least the friction and risks are still there.)Voluntary self-exclusion is a beautiful mechanism and there should be more options available to help people improve their lives when self-control and willpower aren’t necessarily available or reliable.The exclusion can be set at many levels:Identification: Person with ID number X is excluded from purchasing…

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