Question & Concern About Age Verification Method...

[Sorayah Xaris]

Hi All...

So I discovered something rather scary the other night that I never really noticed before. I have been on SL for close to 2 years now. I am an adult. My Husband finally decided to sign up for SL and I helped him create his new account the other night. Once he was logged in I told him that he would need to do the Age Verification process in order to see and visit adult content in-world. I have done the age verification myself a few times already for my main avi and my alts. But that was a while ago. 

Anyway... long story short. When he went to the Age Verification page it said he was already Verified even though he never did anything. We never put anything other then the original info used to create the account which was his name, date of birth, email address. So my concern is this.... how on earth is that considered "age verification" if all they are doing is going by the year of birth people put down. Anyone under age can put a false year of birth down and get age verified?!!!!!! This is rather disturbing to me as I would hate to think of all the young kids viewing adult content on here OR all the adults talking to other avi's thinking they are adults as well. I think SL needs to do a better job at the verification process... Did they change this? I could have sworn that back when I did mine I had to enter my Driver's License info or credit card info to get age verified....

[wrable Amat]

Lol,I did the same not to long ago making a model alt,

When I did mine years ago I have to put in my DL number.Now it is just a box that says "are you over 18? You check he box and  now you are age verified!

I do not blame LL,Adult sites are the same unless you sign up,

All they ask is a simple "are you over 18".

The fact is holding peoples info is risky and costly,

The fact is it's mommy and daddy job to watch what their kids do!

Growing up we did not have computer..We had TV  and  I was not allowed to have one in my room until I was 16!!

Even then if the TV was on the door was open..on that  note if I was breathing the door was open...

Parents for the most part suck these days!

The things I see as teacher in RL would make you throw up! Parents I would say 99% let their teenagers run the show in their homes these days and I can say 1 out 20 home life is 80% mom and dad at work or not paying much attention.

Grant it there are many doing a good job and good parents , but the truth is the numbers do not lie,teens and children have it easy compare  to older generations.

[wiked Anton]

i had to use my DL too and it took a week while they verified it.....o dont see the point if they just ask "how old are you" ...what a f---kn joke

 

[Imnotgoing Sideways]

They do what's legally required.  COPA would have required the age verification we had a couple years ago, but it got killed and never became law. ()y

 

 

[Aurelia Lionheart]

I think they changed it for various reasons. 2 of which:

1. underaged people still got aged verified as an adult because they used their dad's drivers license number.

2. there were a lot of people who wanted to do the right thing and use personal ID numbers but those wouldn't take. Mainly Non US residents had a hard time to have their identification accepted as legit. In order to get approved they had to go through a very hard a time consuming verification system for both parties.

[Venus Petrov]

I am not surprised that the process has changed.  It saves money to put the burden (honesty) on the user to verify their age.  It is no different from adult sites on the interwebs.

I also agree that parents need to be responsible for what their kids do (films, games, books even).  I was not allowed to read Kipling's Kim at a young age because my Dad thought I was not mature enough to handle some of it.  It sat in our bookshelf until I could read it.

 

[LuciaRiley]

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Venus Petrov wrote:

I am not surprised that the process has changed.  It saves money to put the burden (honesty) on the user to verify their age.  It is no different from adult sites on the interwebs.

I also agree that parents need to be responsible for what their kids do (films, games, books even).  I was not allowed to read Kipling's Kim at a young age because my Dad thought I was not mature enough to handle some of it.  It sat in our bookshelf until I could read it.

 

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Kids have their lives easy nowadays in this generation. I wasn't even allowed to have a computer until I was about 16 or 17.

[Syo Emerald]

It doesn't really matter anyway.....avatars having sex...oh my....they are just pixels...a teenager can get more easily reallife porn on the internet by just clicking yes on the question if they are 18.

 

Oh and for verifing they already need to have lied on their RL age when they signed up.

[Jacki Silverfall]

/me feels really old. I didn't get my first computer till I was 32. :smileysad:

[Morgaine Christensen]

Lots less expensive putting the burden of proof of the Users till some User's parents screams about their child wouldn't do this or that and start suing everyone under the sun.  Of course, then again, we have all sorts of law enforcement in SL posing as those under legal age looking to catch "bad" adults to keep kids safe, those same kids who have just clicked the button to say they are adults.  Thus, the burden of proof goes back on the adult and not the kid...jeezz so much confusion....even when the adult thought that sexy gorgeous woman acted like the age she gave him of 25 and rather than 17 her actual age.

LL's policies regarding Age Verifications has taken on so many versions over the years and seems to change without notice it's hard to keep track of what is current and what use to be.

[Ceka Cianci]

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Morgaine Christensen wrote:

Lots less expensive putting the burden of proof of the Users till some User's parents screams about their child wouldn't do this or that and start suing everyone under the sun.  Of course, then again, we have all sorts of law enforcement in SL posing as those under legal age looking to catch "bad" adults to keep kids safe, those same kids who have just clicked the button to say they are adults.  Thus, the burden of proof goes back on the adult and not the kid...jeezz so much confusion....even when the adult thought that sexy gorgeous woman acted like the age she gave him of 25 and rather than 17 her actual age.

LL's policies regarding Age Verifications has taken on so many versions over the years and seems to change without notice it's hard to keep track of what is current and what use to be.

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the burden goes on those that lied..not those that were in areas they were  told were areas that were 18+

if someone sneaks in by lying..

burden of proof is in the account information..unless that other person can be proven to have also been involved in getting them in or knowing they were underaged and still interacted in a bad way with them..

we are not as risk from liars..

and if they are under a certain age it can fall back on the parents and they can be in trouble for letting the computer be the baby sitter pretty much..

[Dilbert Dilweg]

The system is very flawed and puts the burden on the end user . Thats why people who are in adult regions who partake in sexual activity should double and triple check who they are having contact with and if they are truly of age. Which in it self is hard. What if mom discovers Lisa has been having online pixel sex with a guy named Tom and he is 36 and Lisa is 12. Who would be at fault? The person who lied for their age? Or the person who engaged in sexual activity with a minor?. It would end up in court and be a costly burden on the end user because of 1 lie.

Makes you think doesnt it. Even if you were innocent. Its gonna cost you a lot to prove you are

[Ceka Cianci]

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Dilbert Dilweg wrote:

The system is very flawed and puts the burden on the end user . Thats why people who are in adult regions who partake in sexual activity should double and triple check who they are having contact with and if they are truly of age. Which in it self is hard. What if mom discovers Lisa has been having online pixel sex with a guy named Tom and he is 36 and Lisa is 12. Who would be at fault? The person who lied for their age? Or the person who engaged in sexual activity with a minor?. It would end up in court and be a costly burden on the end user because of 1 lie.

Makes you think doesnt it. Even if you were innocent. Its gonna cost you a lot to prove you are

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the mother would be at fault..more than likely it would never even make it past a lawyer that would touch it..because all the fault would fall on the 12 year old that lied and their guardian that wasn't paying attention until it was too late..

now what would be interesting is if they were both 12 and someones mom saw all this and got a lawyer..now you would have two sets of parents not keeping a good eye on their kids while they cruse the dangerous intranets hehehe..

that would be something that would be kind of crazy..

 

[Innula Zenovka]

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Dilbert Dilweg wrote:

The system is very flawed and puts the burden on the end user . Thats why people who are in adult regions who partake in sexual activity should double and triple check who they are having contact with and if they are truly of age. Which in it self is hard. What if mom discovers Lisa has been having online pixel sex with a guy named Tom and he is 36 and Lisa is 12. Who would be at fault? The person who lied for their age? Or the person who engaged in sexual activity with a minor?. It would end up in court and be a costly burden on the end user because of 1 lie.

Makes you think doesnt it. Even if you were innocent. Its gonna cost you a lot to prove you are

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Assuming it's all going on in text, and that Lisa hasn't said, "by the way, I'm a minor," what crime (or tort) do you say Tom might have committed?   

[Sorayah Xaris]

Sadly.... I know that this is the internet and just about anyone and any age can visit adult websites and content. I know there is no 100% safe proof way BUT I did feel a whole lot better back when SL required our ID information to be submitting and made it a tad harder to get verified. Yes... a kid could just use their parents info. But this would make some think twice about it. But this new way of verifying is just a straight up joke to me.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

The bottom line is that you can't blame LL if you fail to take responsibility for yourself as an adult or for your child if you are a parent.

No method of age verification is proof against a clever liar.  Therefore if a minor is where they should not be, the responsibility is squarely on the parent for not supervising their child properly.  I am of the opinion that LL should not have allowed minors on the adult grid at all.  However, sadly, I have run into minors on the grid even before the merger with the teen grid and also have found minors that were here with their parents knowledge and help who went so far as to actually admit it to me. 

Adults who engage in adult activities with minors unknowingly, may find themselves having to defend themselves, so it does behoove you to check and double check someone out before engaging them, just as you would in RL. In the US your innocent until proven guilty and the burden proof would be on the prosecutor and parent pressing charges to prove that the adult either lured the minor into SL, advised them how to cheat the system, and /or knew they were a minor prior to engaging in adult activities with them, however unfortunately this doesn't protect you from a wrongful conviction. 

LL is not your nanny, nor are they forcing anyone to to do anything.  My best advice for all adults is to stay on M and A rated sims as the first step in your defense. The second is not to rush into an adult situation without giving yourself time to be reasonably certain the other person is an adult.  If you do go to G rated regions,  I am not saying not to talk to minors but be very aware and very careful.  It can get you in trouble even if the situation is purely innocent but a parent happens to misinterpret what they see when they suddenly find little Johnny in SL without their knowledge. 

 

[Ceka Cianci]

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Sorayah Xaris wrote:

Sadly.... I know that this is the internet and just about anyone and any age can visit adult websites and content. I know there is no 100% safe proof way BUT I did feel a whole lot better back when SL required our ID information to be submitting and made it a tad harder to get verified. Yes... a kid could just use their parents info. But this would make some think twice about it. But this new way of verifying is just a straight up joke to me.

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i don't know if i would feel better about them stealing other peoples ID's to get in rather than just having them lie..

it sure would have sucked if they had gotten mine to get in and started causing all kinds of trouble or breaking laws...

they were not just using their parents information..it was anybodies information they could find on the net..there were places giving that information away..

i remember someone posting up in the old forums screen shots of sites where they had a whole  list of information and ways someone could use just toget past verification..

it was scarey..

and honestly..verification back then used to really be a joke..

remember when legit accounts would get put on hold because the verification system was glitched..

one friend i knew took 3 months to get his account put back off hold..all because he was not in the U.S. and there were problems with they type of credentials  they used or something like that in his country..

all because he decided to finally verify even though he really didn't need to..

 

[Nuhai Ling]

I have not made an alt in years but if this is true - that age verification is simply stating you are over 18 without additional proof - then Linden Lab has reverted back to its original process before coming up with its adult rating system. Since both worked hand-in-hand it would seem the grid should drop the largely-ignored adult rating system and revert back to a PG / Mature structure again.

Of course there is one major change that creates friction; the teen grid is no longer around and main-grid residents can be as young as 16. If the game is all based on the honor system though, Linden Lab should assume the 16-17 year olds will respect the rules and only view PG content until they are 18 and update their own permissions. Similarly, anyone 15 or younger should understand they are not allowed in SL and stop registering as soon as they read that during the avatar creation process.

I know, I know, there are one or two residents who may not follow the honor system but they are a minority, right?

[Innula Zenovka]

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Nuhai Ling wrote:

I have not made an alt in years but if this is true - that age verification is simply stating you are over 18 without additional proof - then Linden Lab has reverted back to its original process before coming up with its adult rating system. Since both worked hand-in-hand it would seem the grid should drop the largely-ignored adult rating system and revert back to a PG / Mature structure again.

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While that might well be a good idea, I don't see that it follows at all.    Not everyone welcomes the possibility (indeed, some people want to avoid it) of having a sex club open up next to their home or business, while at the same time, they don't necessarily want to be subject to all the constraints of living on G-rated land.    That's not so much an issue on private sims, where covenants can prevent anything too unexpected happening, but it did used to be a real one on the Mainland, as I recall. 

I found that a far more persuasive argument for setting up Adult land, in fact, than any concerns about offending minors' delicate sensibilities.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

I agree with Innula, this used to be a huge problem, even on some private estates that had no covenant, that were commercial or a mix of commercial and residential and that didn't expressly forbid sex clubs.

Also there may be times that  some people don't want to see all the adult content in A sims, not because they are prudes,  but because for example they have kids in the room, someone over their shoulder or are logged in in a public place (never at work I assume lol)., yet  still want to have some adult freedoms and don't want to be around teens.  Then there are those that don't want to see any of the 'adult' content for whatever reason yet also don't want to be stuck in G land.

The present 3 tiered system allows everyone to pick and choose what flavor of SL they find most appropriate for them at any time, from squeaky clean to anything goes, or somewhere in between.  Choice is always good.

[Kenbro Utu]

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LuciaRiley wrote:

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Venus Petrov wrote:

I am not surprised that the process has changed.  It saves money to put the burden (honesty) on the user to verify their age.  It is no different from adult sites on the interwebs.

I also agree that parents need to be responsible for what their kids do (films, games, books even).  I was not allowed to read Kipling's Kim at a young age because my Dad thought I was not mature enough to handle some of it.  It sat in our bookshelf until I could read it.

 

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Kids have their lives easy nowadays in this generation. I wasn't even allowed to have a computer until I was about 16 or 17.

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You kids had it easy in your day, when I was 16 there were no personal computers...