Roblox’s New Age Verification Feature Uses AI to Scan Teens’ Video Selfies
In the briefing, Kaufman called Roblox “one of the safest places online so that people meet and spend time with their friends and family”.
Kirra Pendergast, founder and CEO of Safe on Social – an online security organization operating around the world – distributes the latest Roblox security measures, thus putting a “responsibility for minors to identify and manage risks, which contradicts everything we know about the dynamics of grooming”. Features such as automatic learning age estimation tools, for example, can do not categorize users as older or younger; The digitization of the code in person, she says, “supposes that the digitization of the QR code in person is intrinsically safe.”
“Predators frequently use the real world grooming tactics,” explains Pendergast. “A QR analysis does not check a relationship of trust. A predator could establish confidence online, then manipulate the child in the digitization of an offline QR code, thus validating a confidence connection ” in the Roblox system. Real protection would require a co-truth of the tutor of any connection, and not of the authorizations initiated by the child.”
In addition, says Pendergast, the trust connections only apply to the cat, which leaves “large surfaces exposed, which makes it a fragile barrier at best”.
When asked how an QR code in person protects minors from the real world grooming tactics, Kaufman echoes a press comment that there is no “money ball”. Instead, he says, there are many systems that work together. “These systems begin with our policies, our community standards,” explains Kaufman. “It is our product that makes automated things, it is our partnerships, they are behind the scenes. So we have a whole series of things that are in place to ensure the safety of people. It is not only a QR code, or it is not only the estimate of age, it is all these things that act in concert. ”
Kaufman says that Roblox “goes further” than the other platforms by not allowing children from 13 to 17 years old to have an undefined communication without going through trust connections. “We believe that we really establish the standard for the world in what it means to have a safe and open communication for a teenage audience.”
According to the Roblox briefing, updates are part of the typical Roblox development process and have not been “influenced by a particular event” or comments. “It’s not a reaction to something,” said Kaufman. “This is part of our long -term plan to make Roblox as sure as possible.”
Kaufman also told Wired that the increased control and discussion of the game did not have a spectacular impact in terms of the company. “What we do with this ad is also trying to define the bar for what we think appropriate for children,” he said.
Looking at technology as a generative AI, he says: “Technology may have changed, but the principles are always the same. We also consider AI as a real opportunity to be able to do some of the things we do on a large scale when we think of moderation. AI is at the heart of that. ”
In the briefing, he said that Roblox thinks it is important for parents and tutors to “build a dialogue” with their children on online security. “It is a question of having discussions on where they spend time online, who are their friends and what they do,” said Kaufman. “This discussion is probably the most important thing to do to ensure the safety of people, and we invest in the tools to get there.” He added that Roblox is aware that families have different expectations on what is appropriate online behavior. “If the parents make a decision on what is suitable for their child, it may not correspond to the decisions we could make or I could make for my own family,” he said. “But it’s okay, and we respect this difference.”
