Age Verification Answers

This thread is to provide information about the Age Verification that Linden Labs is integrating into Second Life.

THIS IS NOT A COMPLAINT THREAD. Please post rational questions and answers here. There are plenty of other threads to announce your outrage towards or boycott of Age Verification.

In some preliminary digging, this is what I've encountered. Please take with a grain of salt:

1. The service used is supposedly Integrity, from a company named Aristotle. link
   
2. Anheuser-Busch uses Integrity to age-verify users to its Bud.TV site. link Google reveals other companies like 724 Solutions
   
3. Integrity appears to be a well-respected fraud prevention and identification verification service. link (subscription required)
   
   From: NYT via Integrity press release

   Anheuser-Busch, to its credit, will have one of the smarter gatekeepers keeping watch over Bud.TV. It has bought an identity-verification system used by casinos and banks, Aristotle’s Integrity, which checks the names and Zip codes against driver’s licenses and other public records.
   
   

Questions I have are:

1. Exactly what types of ID can be used for verification, and in what combination?
   
2. Will we be able to verify our account on our Second Life account page, or will we need to do that elsewhere?
   

Everyone please try to keep this on topic, so that we can all get clear answers. Lindens, please chime in with more info for us!

How's the 3rd-party site tie into the grid? Is an LL server going to contact their server every time I log in? If so, do we know that they can scale to the mad rush of logins that happen after a grid restart?

Also, the blog was a little vague on this one..

Any more details here? In particular, can LL say how limited "limited" is? 2? 5? 27?


edit: If this thread can be kept sane, I think it would be better in the Town Hall forum..

Woot!

Since Anheuser-Busch uses Integrity for age verification on Bud.TV, I decided to see just how onerous and difficult and privacy-invading it would be to sign up on Bud.TV.

I had to provide the following information to verify my age:

1. First and Last name as on my Drivers License
   
2. Date of Birth
   
3. Zip code
   
4. THATS ALL!
   

Well, I did have to agree to their TOS, give a screen name and email address, but that wasn't part of the verification.

This meshes completely with the explanations from LL about how they will not store information about our SSN or other details. My understanding is that Integrity compares the data I entered against PUBLIC records of Drivers Licenses or what-have-you, and can see that I am indeed over 21. Or what ever.

This was tooo easy.

I'm not assuming that LL's implementation will be like (or as groovy looking) as Anheuser-Busch's, but I dont think it will be drastically different. I'm thinking more and more that this is going to be practically a non-issue.

Looking at the Budweiser article i saw that:

"Web site visitors will be asked to provide their first and last name, date of birth and zip code, which Aristotle will then attempt to verify against its database of public records in real time. Users who are verified may then create a password that will give them on-the-spot and future access to Bud.TV, as well as to Anheuser-Busch’s other beer-branded Web sites."

If that's good enough for a company the size of Anheuser-Busch will it be good enough for LL? They don't require SSN, passport or driver's license details and seem to do just fine. So will it be ok for me to provide my DOB and postal address/code? If that's all they want I would have no problem whatsoever.

This is just a guess, but I think that once you're verified, your Second Life account will just have a little flag that says "age verified" in the user database. There wouldn't be any need to poll the external site each time, you log in, since just that one little flag will be in your account and easily checked as you log in and visit places on the grid. Anyway, that seems to be the logical way to do it.

They must be able to verfiy your drivers licence exists somehow with that information.

Thanks for doing this homework Simon.

It's my thinking that LL added the use of "the last 4 digits of your SSN" in the case where someone doesn't have a drivers license or identity card. Same goes of those outside the US, for those with no drivers license or ID card then the passport information would be used.

It's simply a way to not lock out those who don't have these forms of identification.

I agree but think it's important for them to say so..

This little tidbit is interesting also:

What if Adult Content is not Flagged
We require that adult content be flagged. If Residents and businesses attempt to violate this rule, we expect that such behavior will be reported by the community. Although we want to limit age-verification processes to adult content and Teen Second Life, in the event we encounter abuses of self-regulation, Second Life may have to require age-verification throughout the world. We hope that does not happen.

Agreed!

yes

- considering the history of abuses of Mature flags on Calssifieds and the amount of adult images and sex balls on PG land -

almost certain to happen then.




Out of so many users the chance that there wont be a significant number of violations is pretty small.

I'm seeing this as the beginning of gridwide verification, which is fine in my book.

The way theyve set it up it will be "our fault."


- Sorry folks we tried to just have verification as optional but no one would stop cybering in their home on mature, unflagged parcels.

So now you all have to pay.

I see no indication that they will be targetting SL sex Collette. If you have a store that sells bondage poseballs they will require it to be flagged adult, thereby keeping those who opt out of the age verifification process away. This is quite different that having sex in your own home.

But I agree with the "our fault" part. And the boycotters will certainly steamroll it right towards that direction.

NOPE:

The Q n A says that all USA Residents will be required to give the last four digits of their SS number.

"How will it work?

Residents will provide a few simple details about their identity – generally, name, date of birth, and address. US Residents will be asked to provide the last four digits of their Social Security Number, while non-US Residents may need to provide a passport or national ID number."

Did you even bother to read what Simon wrote above? Nope.

The same verification company verified his age minus his SSN. Now, knowing how SL tosses vague info out there and then revises it as time passes, what makes you think that for some reason SL needs the SSN and Anheisur Busch doesn't?

Furthermore, you don't want to give it, then don't!

Are there other and better ways for people in Europe in verifying thier age? it seems our drivers licence cant be accepted as different countries... is there any other way to verify other then handing over such very, very sensitive data as our passport numbers?

But you might be having sex with an unverifed person!!!

LOL

and of course two naked avatars are naked - thats Adult.

And them having sex is well .. sex .. - thats adult.

And theres no way to stop people from peeping - so well it should be flagged.

And of course the - what if your banlines arent up or the - what if your parcel is too small to stop evesdropping from next door.

Or the whole Camera Zoom Voice eavesdropping deal.

Or only when the people are strangers and one person gets paid is it adult?

In the "adult" sense:
I dont see anything fundamentally different between two married avatars in the dark missionary position having sex.

And a woman having gotten too freindly (involving sex) with a male stripper during a party.

I wouldn't bet that your license can't be used yet. We just don't know for sure. Seeing as the verification company operates in over 100 countries one would think that your DL would be satisfactory.

This age verification thing sounds so easy, even a child could do it!

So what do you think would stop them from doing just that?

Yeah. Another reason I think it will go grid wide.

Absolutely nothing.

Never mind that they can just take parents ID, here's a word from my 6y/o unverified daughter:

hello

Now, she could get access to my account anytime she wished simply by starting SL and hitting enter. Nothing is going to stop determined kids getting in.

*laughs* good point.

Theres nothing stopping kids from impersonating their parents.

But they dont need to anyhow, They can access nomal 2d Internet porn with no age verification. And Yahoo Instant messenger has no age check so they can still cyber people they meet on My Space.

I think this is mainly a Absolve LL and Content Providers (land owners) responsibility for underage kids doing things they shouldnt thing.

"Your suing us for your kid using YOUR drivers license to access our service?" kind of thing.

I still dont see the functional difference from the Credit Card - but it must be the whole CC#s arent proof of age camp.

And not a kickback for all that data Aristotle can then sell to politicos?

That's the whole point!

If merely name and address are sufficient why is LL requiring the last four SS number digits.?

The language LL uses about requiring SS info from US residents is hardly vague.