Roblox steps up age checks and groups younger users into age-based chats
Roblox is stepping up its age verification system for users who want to send private messages to other players and is implementing age-based chats so kids, teens, and adults can only message people their own age.
The moves come as the popular gaming platform continues to face criticism and lawsuits over child safety and as a growing number of states and countries implement age verification laws.
The company previously announced the age estimation tool, provided by a company called Persona, in July. It requires players to take a selfie video which will be used to estimate their age. Roblox says videos are deleted once age verification is completed. Users are not required 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 unless they have explicit parental permission. And unlike other platforms, it doesn’t encrypt private chat conversations, so it can monitor and moderate them.
While some experts have expressed reservations about the reliability of facial age estimation tools, Matt Kaufman, head of security at Roblox, said that between about five and 25 years old, the system can accurately estimate a person’s age within one or two years.
“But of course, there are always people who may be well outside of a traditional bell curve. And in those cases, if you disagree with your estimate, then you can provide identification or use parental consent in order to correct that,” he said.
Once users pass the age checks, they will be assigned to age groups ranging from under nine, nine to 12, 13 to 15, 16 to 17, 18 to 20, and over 21. Users will then be able to chat with their age group or similar age groups, depending on their age and the type of chat.
Roblox has announced that it will begin imposing age checks in Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands in the first week of December and in the rest of the world in early January.
A growing number of technology companies are implementing verification systems to comply with regulations or to avoid criticism that they do not protect children. This includes Google, which recently began testing a new age verification system for YouTube that relies on AI to differentiate adults from minors based on their viewing history. Instagram is testing an AI system to determine if children are lying about their age.
