Roblox announced a “Facial Age Check” service last week, which is to be rolled out and required for members to use social features for safety purposes. However, it isn’t working as designed.
For those who missed it, last week, Roblox globally rolled out a new safety feature (which previously launched in select regions in early December) wherever chat is available. This feature requires an in-app face scan, which doubles as an age check to chat with others on the platform using AI tech. This service uses “Facial Age Check” technology (a necessity to chat with others), which is based on users who have volunteered their photos sourced in the U.K., and tested by the Age Check Certification Scheme in the U.K.
Fans were quick to point out issues immediately on forums such as Reddit, namely, what if parents don’t want their child’s face to be scanned for privacy purposes and localization issues (the world doesn’t look like U.K. residents).
The service has been rolled out, and although Roblox boasts “more than 50% of daily active users have completed the process,” many issues have surfaced. Age-appropriate players have been locked out of talking with their friends, developers are listing issues and asking to ground the update, and experts have said that the AI wrongly confirms young players as adults and vice versa. The system allegedly does little to help address the ongoing problem on the Roblox platform; child safety is at risk.
Niftier players have realized the graphical prowess of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach can also bypass these face scan restrictions (reported by Dexterto). Some users on Reddit have pointed out the irony of a facial scan service just being “flooded with Norman Reedus” as a detriment to the facial scan’s learning ability.
According to Wired, they’ve found multiple listings on the resale platform, eBay, for age-verified Roblox accounts up for sale for as low as $4. Roblox’s CSO, Matt Kaufman, replied to the site in an email responding to the issues with the service, with the full statement sent over by Roblox:
According to Wired, multiple listings have appeared on the resale platform eBay offering age-verified Roblox accounts for as little as $4. Roblox chief safety officer Matt Kaufman responded to the report in an email, addressing concerns about the platform’s age-verification system. Below is the full statement provided by Roblox:
“To suggest that our age check technology isn’t working is a fundamental misunderstanding of what it takes to shift safety at scale. With a global community of over 150 million daily active users, we are pleased with where we are in the roll out process. It’s a process that will take time, you can’t flip a switch while building something that hasn’t existed before.
Tens of millions of users have already completed the process, proving that the vast majority of our community values a safer, more age-appropriate environment. Expecting the system to be flawless overnight is ignoring the scale of this undertaking. We’ve already shared updates with our creator community to make this a smoother transition. This technology is the foundation of a new gold standard that limits communication between adults and minors by default.
We are building for the next decade of the internet, not the next news cycle. We will continue to innovate, continue to require age checks, and continue to lead the industry where others have been too hesitant to go.”
While Roblox has acknowledged some issues with the system on their dev forum, the system remains intact on the platform.
