ESRB proposes facial recognition as new form of age verification
The ESRB has issued a new proposal to the FTC calling for the approval of facial recognition. The video game ratings body believes the technology can better help verify that anyone attempting to buy a mature-rated game is a legal adult.
Known as the Privacy-Protective Facial Age Estimation (and first spotted by GamesIndustry), the proposal is made in collaboration with the digital identity firm Yoti and Epic Games subsidiary SuperAwesome.
Though the ESRB has made an effort to outline a game's content on physical boxes, age verification to buy digital games is incredibly easy to bypass: all one has to do is put in a birthdate older than 18 years, often without any real follow up.
In its proposal, the ESRB said the Age Estimation "offers parents an easy way to provide VPC through a quick process, without needing to provide extensive personal information, in line with data minimization principles." It also noted that this verification method would be especially useful for guardians without government ID.
To buy a game, a user would have to take a picture of their face right at that moment to submit for verification. Photos that don't meet the required quality will be rejected, while accepted photos are submitted to Yoti's backend for age estimation. After the verification, the photo is said to be "immediately, permanently deleted."
Beyond it being generally easier than pulling one's ID out of their wallet (if they have one), it's hard to glean if there is much of a substantial benefit to facial verification. Software can often fail for any random reason, and having it dictate purchases may end up causing more trouble than it's worth.
Despite how considerably easier it is, facial recognition carries several risks. For phones
Read more on gamedeveloper.com
