The popular online gaming platform Roblox has announced it will be rolling out age verification features by the end of the year in an attempt to make the environment safer for younger users. According to reporting from Malwarebytes Lab, in order for players to access the communication features of the game, they'll need to submit to an age verification by submitting a selfie.
While the company has not detailed yet how the analysis will work on its end, others use AI tools to estimate ages by analyzing facial features. Roblox says that once a user has their age estimated, they will be placed into an appropriate age group (either 13, 13+ or 18+) and then have their experience customized based around their grouping.
Users who are placed in the under 13 age group will have their personal data, including their email and phone number, removed from Roblox. This move clearly intends to strengthen the safety of communications within the platform and stop inappropriate interactions between adult players and minors, by using facial age estimation, ID verification and parental consent. Roblox is aiming to ensure that all of its users can only access features and content that are suitable for their own age groups, and create a safer environment for its younger user base, at a time when many governments are moving to use age verification for websites with adult content.
Roblox has taken a lot of backlash, and faced multiple lawsuits, for not putting enough protections in place for younger users. A lawsuit filed by the state of Louisiana alleges that the website created a location for predators to “thrive, unite, hunt and victimize kids,” while one filed by the state of California called it “a real life nightmare for children.”
How to stay safe while playing Roblox
First, when setting up a Roblox account, make sure to avoid using your child’s real name, but do use an appropriate or approximate birth date to make sure the relevant restrictions are in place after doing so.
From there, you want to make sure you can access your child's account settings to limit or disable friend requests and online chat capabilities entirely. You can also use Roblox’s Parental Controls to limit access to age appropriate content and games, as well as to enable features like screen time limits.
It's also equally important that you have conversations with your child and make sure they know to never take chats offline, or to any other platform. You also want to teach your children online safety tips, like to never to share any personal information such as their address and not to click on any links sent by strangers. They also need to know and be comfortable sharing their online experiences with you. Playing the game with them to understand the rules and how it works can be very helpful too. Then on your end, you want to stay informed about updates, features and changes to the game as they're rolled out.
Lastly, make sure to keep the devices that your children are playing on are protected by the best antivirus software and have their operating systems updated regularly too in order to keep them safe from malware and other online threats.
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