Roblox exec: Age verification must go beyond a checkbox
▼ Summary
– Roblox’s VP of safety product policy, Eliza Jacobs, says the company is “optimistic” that its facial age estimation tech will improve, as simply checking a box to confirm age is no longer sufficient.
– In a test by NBC News, children could not bypass Roblox’s video selfie age check process, even with a fake mustache.
– Jacobs claims Roblox’s facial age estimates typically land “within 1.4 years of a child’s exact age.”
– Roblox announced plans in April to use its video selfie age estimation tech to sort players into age brackets.
– Users under 16 and unde… (text cut off, but this point covers the age bracket sorting policy for younger users).
According to Roblox’s vice president of safety product policy, Eliza Jacobs, the company believes its facial age estimation technology will “continue to get better,” and she stressed that simply “ticking a box to say you’re 13 or older, it’s not enough anymore.” In a recent interview with NBC News, Jacobs revealed that Roblox is “optimistic” about the tech’s future accuracy. To test its effectiveness, NBC invited a group of children to attempt bypassing Roblox’s new video selfie age verification process, but even a fake mustache failed to fool the system. Jacobs claims the tool can typically estimate a user’s age “within 1.4 years of a child’s exact age.”
Roblox first announced plans in April to deploy this age estimation technology, using video selfies to sort players into specific age brackets. The system is designed to restrict certain experiences and features for users under 16, with undeclared accounts facing additional limitations. The move reflects a broader industry shift away from simple self-declaration, as platforms seek more robust methods to protect younger audiences online.
(Source: The Verge)
