+Jupiter103 Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 I have read the terms and conditions and looked through the forum, and can see no reference to a minimum age requirement for registering a geocaching.com account. Of course, it could be there and I've missed it. My eight year old son would dearly love his own account, so that he can log his finds himself rather than use the family account. I'd supervise him until he's older, but I wanted to check if it's allowed. Many thanks. Link to comment
jholly Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 I have read the terms and conditions and looked through the forum, and can see no reference to a minimum age requirement for registering a geocaching.com account. Of course, it could be there and I've missed it. My eight year old son would dearly love his own account, so that he can log his finds himself rather than use the family account. I'd supervise him until he's older, but I wanted to check if it's allowed. Many thanks. Given that dogs have accounts, it would be okay for your son to have an account. There are others younger than him that have accounts. Jim Link to comment
+BlueDeuce Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 My kids have had accounts for quite some time. Enjoy. Link to comment
ao318 Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 My 2 daughters have had accounts for almost 2 years. My youngest was 8 when we started hers. Link to comment
+Ambrosia Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 Yup, both my kids have had accounts for 7 years. They were 5 and 8 years old when I signed them up. I think that it's a wonderful thing to do for them. If they still enjoy geocaching when they are adults, they have the opportunity to have appropriately aged accounts with (hopefully) all the caches they've done over the years. Link to comment
+The Blorenges Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 (edited) This is an interesting one. I know that lots of children and dogs and possibly other various creatures have geocaching accounts but I read somewhere, or someone told me at sometime, that (officially) one has to be 16 or over to have one's own geocaching account, because one has to read and understand and agree to the Terms of Use when creating a membership. Like the OP, I've never been able to find anything about this written down anywhere so I'd be interested to read an "official" answer to this question. MrsB Edited October 30, 2009 by The Blorenges Link to comment
+Bear and Ragged Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 Presumably, there is a minimum legal for agreeing to legal matters (Terms of Use etc.) which could vary from Country to Country. I have no problem with logs to my cache that say along the lines of "Caching with Mum/Dad/ Mum and Dad" etc, and think that if your youngsters are wanting to have their own account to log caches, then they are ready to have their own accounts! Link to comment
+BlueDeuce Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 (edited) This is an interesting one. I know that lots of children and dogs and possibly other various creatures have geocaching accounts but I read somewhere, or someone told me at sometime, that (officially) one has to be 16 or over to have one's own geocaching account, because one has to read and understand and agree to the Terms of Use when creating a membership. Like the OP, I've never been able to find anything about this written down anywhere so I'd be interested to read an "official" answer to this question. MrsB I opened the account, I gave my information - totally up front, nothing hidden, and the emails come to me. Heck, I even paid the PM charges on my daughters. That's two PM accounts in one house. Edited October 30, 2009 by BlueDeuce Link to comment
+Ambrosia Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 This is an interesting one. I know that lots of children and dogs and possibly other various creatures have geocaching accounts but I read somewhere, or someone told me at sometime, that (officially) one has to be 16 or over to have one's own geocaching account, because one has to read and understand and agree to the Terms of Use when creating a membership. Like the OP, I've never been able to find anything about this written down anywhere so I'd be interested to read an "official" answer to this question. MrsB Probably, technically, I am the owner of the accounts. I set it up and made most of the logs while they were young, while they dictated their experience to me. It would be interesting to know if there's an official rule about it. But I do think that if the parents are doing it for their kids, or closely supervising them, that it should be alright. Link to comment
+Jupiter103 Posted October 31, 2009 Author Share Posted October 31, 2009 Many thanks for your replies, everyone. I've set up an account for my son, and he's so excited. It's pouring with rain today, but guess where we're going? It's addictive, isn't it! Link to comment
+Bear and Ragged Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 Congratulations -to both of you- on your first find! UK cachers can be found over on the UK side of these forums HERE link should you have a UK specific question, or wish to discuss UK caching. Or even find a local cacher/caching family to cache with! Link to comment
+Team Cotati Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 (edited) I think that you are correct, there seems to be no age restriction. But then if you think on it for a bit it would be quite challenging to enforce or control such a guideline. Perhaps it would satisfy the legal staff? Edited October 31, 2009 by Team Cotati Link to comment
+two bison Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 (edited) Many thanks for your replies, everyone. I've set up an account for my son, and he's so excited. It's pouring with rain today, but guess where we're going? It's addictive, isn't it! When I set up the accounts for my grandsons one wanted the name "Baby Bison." I was able to convince him that he wanted a name he would be willing to use when he was older. He made a better choice the second time. Hope your kid made a good choice. It's fun to cache with kids and they'll even search for micros ... now. LOL Edited November 1, 2009 by two bison Link to comment
AZcachemeister Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 I don't see any restriction for the age of a cacher to have an account. As a family-friendly activity, that might seem counter-intuitive? Link to comment
+BBWolf+3Pigs Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 There's this little fellow in our area. He did his first cache at age 5 days old! He's 2-1/2 now with almost 2000 finds! Link to comment
+Von-Horst Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 I have read the terms and conditions and looked through the forum, and can see no reference to a minimum age requirement for registering a geocaching.com account. Although GC.com don't specify a minimum age, the registration process involves the collection of (a small amount) personal data (name, email address etc.) It would therefore appear that under US law (which applies to GC.com as it is based in Seattle), a minor should be at least 13 to have their own account, or have a legal guardian give express written permission - see the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act for details. Mike Link to comment
Mr.Yuck Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 I have read the terms and conditions and looked through the forum, and can see no reference to a minimum age requirement for registering a geocaching.com account. Although GC.com don't specify a minimum age, the registration process involves the collection of (a small amount) personal data (name, email address etc.) It would therefore appear that under US law (which applies to GC.com as it is based in Seattle), a minor should be at least 13 to have their own account, or have a legal guardian give express written permission - see the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act for details. Mike I would have to think the crack Groundspeak legal staff has looked at this. I too have seen many children's accounts (even infants as mentioned by BBWolf+3 Pigs) with the finds logged by parents. I have also seen accounts created for dogs, and hand puppets. Hey, can that 2 1/2 yr. old help me out with GSAK? Link to comment
+Hynr Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 It would therefore appear that under US law (which applies to GC.com as it is based in Seattle), a minor should be at least 13 to have their own account, or have a legal guardian give express written permission - see the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act for details. In that case, could we have a rule that all trade items be suitable for individuals greater than 13 years of age, rather than for individuals less that 10 years of age? Joking aside: the same rules apply as with everything else for parents and children. Parents (or legal guardians) should keep an eye on all computer activities of their kids until the parents feel the kids are ready to be on their own. The quoted rule is generally a lower limit. We as parents are liable for nonsense our kids perpetrate until they are much older. Based on what I have seen in practice, the minimum age for having an account seems to be approximately 1 week. Link to comment
+NinjaCacher! Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 There's this little fellow in our area. He did his first cache at age 5 days old! He's 2-1/2 now with almost 2000 finds! I wonder how many of his finds he'll remember in a year or three Link to comment
+Chrysalides Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Found first cache at 5 days old? Meh. How about placed first cache when born? GC1XG10 Link to comment
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