Roblox has strengthened its age verification system for users who want to privately message other players, and is implementing age-based chat so that kids, teens, and adults can only message people their own age.
The move comes as the popular gaming platform continues to face criticism. Litigation over child safety And more and more states and countries are implementing Age confirmation law.
The company previously announced an age estimation tool from a company called Persona in July. Players must take a video selfie which will be used to estimate their age. Roblox says the videos will be removed after age verification. Users do not need to submit a facial scan to use the platform, only if they want to chat with other users.
Roblox does not allow children under 13 to chat with other users outside of games without explicit parental permission. Also, unlike other platforms, we don’t encrypt your private chat conversations, so you can monitor and manage your chats.
Although some experts have expressed caution about the reliability of facial age estimation tools, Matt Kaufman, Roblox’s chief safety officer, said the system can accurately estimate the age of people from about 5 years old to 25 years old within one to two years.
“But, of course, there are always people who may deviate significantly from the traditional bell curve. And in those cases, if you disagree with the estimate returned, you can provide ID or use parental consent to correct it,” he said.
Once a user undergoes an age check, they are assigned to the following age groups: Under 9, 9-12, 13-15, 16-17, 18-20, and 21+. Users will be able to chat with their own age group or similar age groups depending on their age and chat type.
Roblox announced that it will begin implementing age verification in Australia, New Zealand, and the Netherlands in the first week of December, and in early January in other regions.
A growing number of tech companies are implementing authentication systems to comply with regulations and fend off criticism that they are not protecting children. This includes Google, which recently started testing new features. YouTube’s age verification system Uses AI to differentiate between adults and minors based on their viewing history. Instagram is Test your AI system To determine whether children are lying about their age.
