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by donmcronald 1728 days ago
First off... NOT A FUCKING CHANCE. If a kid came to me with a game that was asking for "opt in" age verification by scanning government ID, and they wanted to do it, we'd have a long talk about privacy and that game would get uninstalled even if it means the end result is the kid crying over it.

Second, how is this going to work? I don't know a single kid that plays Roblox and has a government issued photo ID. And are they REALLY going to roll out a system where they're trying to train minors to scan their ID and submit it to a corporation for something as trivial as a game?

> When a government-issued ID is scanned for verification, an anonymized value is generated, allowing Roblox to safely verify identity without risking exposure of the user’s real identity.

There are two possibilities here:

1. It's absolutely bullshit and they store some portion of uniquely identifiable identity info, like your name + birthdate, somewhere.

2. It's absolutely useless because someone will create a website or app that fools the system by showing fake id and a matching "likeness".

So I don't believe at all the glossed over claims of respecting privacy on this. This is a bad idea and I hope it fails spectacularly.

4 comments

> Second, how is this going to work? I don't know a single kid that plays Roblox and has a government issued photo ID.

Chances are their age verification system only applies if you say you’re 18+. I doubt they’re going to throw away players.

> It will be available globally in over 180 countries on both mobile and desktop for anyone 13 years of age or older with a government-issued ID or passport.

That's a quick ticket to getting a lot of 13-16 year old forbidden (by parents) from playing your game IMO.

This is a bandaid measure. Roblox spends most of its time convincing young children that they will be successful while simultaneously cheesing the 'robux' exchange rate so that these children get nothing.

Roblox is undoubtedly responding to backlash from revelations that they are exploiting children for economic growth. Here's a great summary: https://youtu.be/_gXlauRB1EQ

> Roblox spends most of its time convincing young children that they will be successful

I've never seen this. Could you give an example? Me and my kids are pretty heavy players, with a couple games released, with one giving my kid a nice stream of Robux.

2. It's absolutely useless because someone will create a website or app that fools the system by showing fake id and a matching "likeness".

fauxblox.com is available for registration, someone more enterprising than myself is welcome :)

In my country everyone from the age of 14 has to have an ID.

I see the logic of it. If you make laws that state kids can't have access to services you need a way to verify someone is in fact an adult.