Age Verification -- When ?

Has LL given any indication when it will implement Age Verification?

Not heard about this but a good idea.

my belief: LL didnt expect a backlash and have backed off for the moment just waiting for the dust to clear. things will seem to have blown over for the most part. then LL will hit us with everything at once and 'lay down the law' - new tos, identity verification, age verification, voice, merging of the teen and adult grids... has there always been a continent there? oh its the underage continent
who-knows-which linden will post some poorly written blog, hanging the stakes of LL on the end of some ill planned blog post on a friday after the weekly office pissup. once talk of the nazi youth simmers down a bit canadian police will arrest some guy for trying to groom young girls in the underage continent.
convinced this had to be tackled head-on, LL will introduce a voluntary criminal records check. this will enable you to voluntarily indicate you have passed the criminal history check. it will come out that the company processing the criminal background checks also sells 'tips' to realestate agents. all the while people will be telling LL it was always a bad idea etc etc etc.
and it will feel so much like rl too.

Then again is there much use of the blog other then what its turning into.

No joke. There is already an Internet Age Verification service that in addition to verifying age, also checks to see if you have a criminal record and if you are on any sexual offender lists. This service will be used by Naughty America, a newly announced online MMOG.

http://www.sentryweb.com/

"Newly-announced massively-multiplayer sex game Naughty America: The Game has established a screening program intended to identify "safe" players. The voluntary program will be facilitated by Sentry, a firm specializing in online identity verification. According to Naughty America (the maker of its namesake game), each player "will have the option of providing personal information... [resulting in] an immediate check of the user to detect a criminal and/or sexual offender history. Upon completing the Sentry process and obtaining verification, a special seal will appear on the member's personal profile, indicating to other players that their background screen contained no negative information."

http://www.secretlair.com/index.php?/clickableculture/entry/sex_game_to_screen_players_for_criminal_past/

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I was at Robin Linden's office hour the other week and it's still very much on the agenda. LL did get a little premature with their initial proposal but it's still coming. I won't be verifying by their proposed method, I'll happily do a transaction with them from my id verified 18+ only bank account though.

The problem with it is that LL planned to outsource age verification. To do it, we would be required to send personal confidential information (like a social security number in the U.S.) to a company that has a history of selling people's personal information.

LL says the contract specifies the company can not store our personal information, but many people don't feel comfortable taking the risk.

Hell no, this company is shady, and I don't care what their contract says. I'll happily trade being able to go to "adult" places for not giving out my personal info. Not why I am here in SL anyway, lol. Though this does mean builds like Midian city will no longer be accessible :\

This is actually very questionable as there's a quote that the information is vaulted and can only be opened by a government led audit. For an audit to take place, information has to be stored. LL won't be storing that information but someone surely will have to or there's nothing to audit.

I disagree. The extremly premature announcement happened the day after the project open letter town hall fiasco. Interestingly enough it got most people talking about age verification instead of the bugs.

I too am not happy with th planned verification scheme. I don't trust any announcement that says the data is safe. There is no need to give up what they ask for verifying age. It's nothing but a data mining scheme, to tie avatars for marketing an possibly tax purposes. I don't plan on paticipating until they come up with a different plan.

Wow. Just... wow. It's unbelievable that anyone but the legal authorities are able to check someone's criminal record. And why would any online company want that?
[cynicism] What's next? Checking people's medical records? I mean, if they don't want former criminals in their adult MMORPG, they surely don't want HIV infected persons either... they could meet up with another player in RL. Let's make all that information publically available, to protect adult people from each other. [/cynicism]

Not really. Most Criminal Records are available, a bit of work can turn them up. There are many services here that will do this for you for a small fee.

i think they are working on fixined the BBcode in the forums before they work on the age thing....

Meh. They can have my passport if they like. And my bills, if they are prepared to pay them!

Where would they stand legally I wonder for saying it's 18+, charging people for the service and then saying "We don't actually believe you're 18 unless you provide us with this". I mean a bar that operated such a policy would be closed down by the authorities.

I'm just wondering because I pay them money and yet they won't have it I'm 18. This whole issue is full of pitfalls.

By the end of May, 2007.

Ah, so that's what's distracting the Lindens...working on their time travel technology.

http://www.gridgrind.com/?p=65
We also never did get a follow-up on whether the things that were initially assured wouldn't happen (Aristotle not sharing the data with its parent Integrity) are part of the actual, final contract that was signed.

RE: [10:12] Daniel Linden: it’s vaulted to provided a government-required audit trail for two years, but neither Linden or Integrity can access that data unless an audit is initiated."


Ummm. It might be nice if LL or Aristattletale would tell us just where in the law this "government required audit trail" can be found.

A large part of my RL career has been serving as a front-line attorney for a US Federal Law Enforcement Agency. I know how to track-down regulations and rules like this purported requirement. Well, I can't find it anywhere (at least respecting US Citizens and Residents.) Even under the Privacy Act which establishes rules and procedures that apply to Federal Agencies that receive personal information about US residents, there is no such 2-year record retention requirement.

According to a January, 2007 Report by the US Justice Department's Office of Justice Programs, there is no current law that requires an ISP to store customer information such as their logs. There is no indication that such a retention requirement applies to data miners such as ArisIlltellanyoneaboutyou.

http://www.securitymanagement.com/library/nij_internet_technofile0407.pdf

In 2006, The Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and the Budget, sent a memorandum to department heads urging them to take action to safeguard personal information properly. The memo, which includes a security checklist created by the National Institute for Standards and Technology, recommended, among other things: verify that all sensitive data is purged within 90 days if no longer required.

http://www.securitymanagement.com/library/clay_omb_technofile1006.pdf

If our personal information is to be stored for 2 years I believe that we are entitled to a full explanation of this purported "Government Requirement."

This whole thing stinks IMHO. If LL needs a way to cover its legal-liability ass it should do so in the least intrusive way. As of now, I see no indication that LL is doing so.

FYI: According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, in 2006, there were in excess of 315 publicized breaches affecting nearly 20 million individuals. Based on ITRC’s categorization, the breaches break down as follows: 29% government/military agencies; 28% from educational institutions; 22% from general businesses; 13% from health care facilities / companies; and 8% from banking / credit / financial services entities.

Does that make you feel better about giving your Social Security information to a data miner who will make it available as a target for identity theives for 2 years so you can go to a skin store or dance club, or cyber with your partner?

http://www.idtheftcenter.org/artman2/publish/lib_survey/Press_Release_-_2007_Breach_List.shtml


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Surely age verification can be done when you submit your credit card details, and in the process make the argument over Premium versus Basic a thing of the past. Provide card details..become Premium..have access to adult areas (assuming you are over 1. No card..no verification..become Basic..restriction from adult areas.

Despite the fact that it's entirely possible for minors to own credit cards in some countries, credit card companies (VISA in particular) have had guidelines in place for years that cards can't be used for age verification.

Aah..I had a feeling it was too simple an idea...the drawing board awaits...

From their website:

Naughty America: The Game - Get ready for the first multiplayer experience to boldly go where no game has gone before - to bed!

Someoen needs to tell them that SL got there first. And has even gone from the bed to the courtroom too :/

Someone else already posted a similar thought: I joined Sl, advertised as Adults only. I am paying a monthly fee, gave my credit card and other personal information, and agreed to a TOs that staes I am an adult over 18. What else do they need?