Minecraft players in the UK who hold adult accounts will soon encounter a new requirement: age verification. Starting in February, these players must complete an age check to access the game’s social features, including chat functionalities. Microsoft, the owner of Minecraft, has begun notifying players via email about this upcoming change, indicating that Yoti will facilitate the age verification process. Importantly, players who opt not to undergo this verification will still retain access to the game and its other features, such as in-game purchases.
Concerns have been raised by critics and privacy advocates regarding the potential risks associated with large-scale age verification systems. Issues such as data breaches, identity fraud, and misuse of personal information have been highlighted as significant threats. However, it is worth noting that Yoti has successfully implemented age checks for Fortnite since 2023 without any reported breaches, a fact that has not been emphasized in the discussions surrounding Minecraft’s new policy.
Yoti, a leader in age verification technology, has conducted over a billion age checks, as noted by CEO Robin Tombs in a recent LinkedIn post celebrating the company’s recognition on the Sunday Times 100 Tech list. Yoti has been acknowledged as the 47th fastest-growing private technology company in Britain over the past three years, marking its debut on the list last year. The company has also achieved profitability and expanded its customer base as age assurance regulations gain traction globally.
Age check discord strikes Discord, Roblox
In a parallel development, Discord is proactively implementing age checks in Australia, despite not being classified as an Age-Restricted Social Media Platform under the Social Media Minimum Age Act. This initiative aligns with the measures introduced in the UK to comply with the Online Safety Act. The technology for these checks is provided by k-ID, which includes both facial age estimation and ID document-based verification.
Users will encounter age checks when attempting to access sensitive content, disable the message requests feature, or enter specific channels. In the UK, Discord may direct users to Persona for age verification as part of what the platform describes as an “experiment.” Notably, a breach linked to Discord’s third-party customer support provider, Zendesk, exposed approximately 70,000 government-issued ID documents last October, raising concerns about data retention practices and the security of facial photos.
Persona’s approach blurs all data on ID documents except for the photo and date of birth, as detailed in Discord’s announcement. Similarly, Roblox employs Persona’s facial age estimation for chat access, although Wired has reported significant issues with the system. The publication uncovered age-verified accounts for individuals as young as nine years old available for purchase on eBay, alongside numerous claims of inaccurate age assessments circulating on social media. Some users have even shared videos demonstrating successful spoof attacks, casting doubt on the reliability of the facial age estimation algorithm and its accompanying liveness detection measures.
Amid these developments, a Roblox developer has voiced frustration, questioning the rationale behind the ongoing push for age verification changes. This sentiment reflects a broader tension within the gaming community, where many users who have not encountered online harms remain skeptical of the necessity for such regulatory measures.
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Article Topics
age verification | biometric age estimation | Discord | facial age estimation (FAE) | gaming | k-ID | Minecraft | Online Safety Act | Online Safety Act (Australia) | Persona | Roblox | Yoti
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