Age Verification

[Juanita Deharo]

Why is it a different system to enter 'adult' land on Zindra and places where the owner has set the land to  'must be age verified'? I can go to the adult continents but not to some mainland places. Are there two different systems in place?

[Kev Sweetwater]

Could you be a little more spefic on your question i think I know what your asking but i need some more details to help but take a look at these links they might answer your question

 

1) Age Verfication FAQ

https://support.secondlife.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=4417

 

2) Age Verification Parcel and Estate Management Features

https://support.secondlife.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=4417

 

3) How to become a Age Verfied adult

https://support.secondlife.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=4417&task=knowledge&questionID=6362

 

 

Kev Sweetwater

[Marx Dudek]

The answer is as simple as it is complicated.

 

On mainland, parcel access can be restricted either by "age verification on file" or "payment information on file" - or both.

 

The entire continent of Zindra, however, has a unique restriction process - access is granted on an either/or basis - whether you have age-verified or provided payment information (credit card, Paypal), you can access Zindra.

 

Perhaps you can contact the owner of the parcel in question, explain the situation, and get added to the "Approved Residents" list.  Whether this will override the parcel restriction, I don't know and can't test at the moment.  But if they are in doubt, agree to meet them in Zindra to prove you can TP there.

[Baloo Uriza]

Actually, I'm fairly certain you can only teleport to Zindra if you are age verified.  Credit cards are not a form of age verification, and cannot be used for that purpose (yes, some porno sites do it, but this is a legally questionable and completely useless as minors can and do get issued debit cards).  Perhaps you are age verified but do not have payment info on file?  Many stores require payment info on file to enter as a way to reduce fraud.

[Marx Dudek]

https://support.secondlife.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=4417&task=knowledge&questionID=6362

 

Validate your account as Adult

Linden Lab has implemented maturity ratings in the Second Life^® virtual world that are used to indicate the type of content that can be found and created in various locations inworld. For more information about maturity ratings, see Maturity ratings: an overview.

Most Residents are already Adult verified.  Your account should already be verified as Adult if you have ever:

• Had a payment relationship with Linden Lab.
• Added US$ to your XStreet account using a verified PayPal account.
• Gone through the Age Verification process.
  

If you have participated in one of the above account options, your account is verified as Adult and you can now opt in to view Adult Content.

If you are having trouble verifying your account, refer to the support instructions at the bottom of the article.

 

If you have not participated in one of the above options and would like to verify your account, there are three ways to do this:

• Add payment info on file for your account with Linden Lab.
• Go through the Age Verification process.
• Put USD on your XstreetSL account from a verified PayPal account.
  

Set up a payment relationship with Linden Lab:

1. Login to your My Account page.
2. Select Update Billing Information under the Membership section.
3. Select Update Credit Card Info or Continue to PayPal.
4. Enter either a credit card number or a verified PayPal account.

 

[Marx Dudek]

As a Zindra land owner, and someone who uses alts for furniture adjustment, I can state from first-hand experience that my alts are not age-verified but are tied to my Paypal account (basic accounts) and all can reach Zindra.

[Danridar Frederick]

I'm curious how long it takes them to verifiy then.

 

I've previously put money on Xstreet SL  from a bank-account linked Paypal account, which I believe said was a verified account, (twice infact only to remove it later)  And I never got verified.

 

I've also recently went premium which is supposed to be auto-verified.  Though I did this through the side bar and not the link inside the Verification page when Aristotle's Integrity decides you don't exist.

 

My final resort if the Premium doesn't work will be the manual.  which leads me to some more questions:

• Can I use a Bank statement instead of a utility bill? As I'm currently still living with the parental units and don't have to pay utilities.
• I have a lapsed learner's permit that is also a photo ID... can I use that or do I need to use my birth certificate?
• If I can use the bank statement should I block out my bank account number or am I to leave it in tact.

 

Any help would be appreciated, I understand that you guys do not work for Linden Labs and can only answer to the best of your ability.

Do you know if I can use the Premium Live Support chat to ask these questions or do you think they'd tell me that wasn't what the live chat stuff was meant for.

[Ellla McMahon]

Hello Danridar, please see the Marx's reply to this Question and the links to the Knowledge Base articles.

 

If you are asking this Question because you cannot access a specific Region, please see this article I can't get into the land It has very helpful suggestions.

 

I've previously put money on Xstreet SL  from a bank-account linked Paypal account, which I believe said was a verified account, (twice infact only to remove it later)  And I never got verified.

 

This should have confirmed that you are Adult-verified. Please make sure you have set your Maturity preferences

 

I've also recently went premium which is supposed to be auto-verified.  Though I did this through the side bar and not the link inside the Verification page when Aristotle's Integrity decides you don't exist.

 

 

Upgrading your Account to Premium membership does not automatically Adult (How to become verified as an adult) or Age verify (Age Verification FAQ) your Account. But Premium membership does give you access to Live Chat and I have always found them very helpful. If you cannot find the answers to your questions in Knowledge Base, they will be happy to give you help and advice.

 

Hope this helps

[Juanita Deharo]

The Knowledge base article is clearly wrong, so quoting it doesn't answer the question. Having account details on file does not mean you are age verified.

I have been a premium member since 2006 and LL has had my payment info. on file since then.

I own land on Zindra and can go most places there, except those places on Zindra where the owner has set the land to 'age verification' only. I cannot go to those places, or any place on the mainland where the land has been set this way.

I have never had a problem with giving payment details to LL, but I do have a problem with giving SEVERAL pieces of information which together make identity fraud quite easy. Having recently been the victim of Credit card fraud I know how distressing this can be.

I could send a photograph of my 60 yr old self instead of my passport - would that help?

[Juanita Deharo]

Isnt it that Premium membership only gives you access to Live Chat if you own a full region or more?

[Juanita Deharo]

Yes I think you are right that there are two different systems in place. However the Knowledge Base articles do not say this. They say you can become  age verified by giving account details. That doesnt see to be the case, or maybe I am missing something.

[Ellla McMahon]

Hello Juanita, the different levels of Account membership are explained here

 

Account types can be broken down into:

• Basic
  • Free
  • Can own Estates or Private Regions
  • Can rent anywhere, depending on the landowner's renting preferences
  • Can have a Covenant Agreement on Private Regions or Estates owned by other Residents
  • Can't own land on the mainland
  • Can't submit support tickets aside from the questions covered in the FAQ
  • No access to Live Chat
• Premium
  • Pay a monthly fee
  • Can own land on the mainland
  • Can submit support tickets
  • Can initiate Live Chat sessions
• Concierge
  • Any account that owns an Estate, pays for an Estate, or pays tier for more than half a region's worth of mainland parcels
  • Has access to a special Live Chat area and phone number here (Residents who don't qualify for Concierge service won't see these things

[Danridar Frederick]

Someone needs to tell LL to correct the Verification Failed page then cause this is what I get...  you'll see why I thought going premium also meant I got Age verified

Age Verification Failed

The information that you provided did not match available public records. This can occur if your information has changed recently. If you moved or changed your name in the last 18 months, please try age verification again with your prior address or name.

Please also try using a different identity document. Many countries use multiple identity documents, for example, a passport, driver's license, or national ID card. Please make sure that you've selected the proper country name.

If you have tried several different identity documents and are still having difficulty, please help us identify the root cause by taking this survey. You may also verify your account by adding a payment method to your account. You can do so here.

If you are unable to add a payment method to your account, you may also age verify your account via a support ticket. To do so, please visit the support portal and click Submit a Ticket. The Manual Age Verification ticket type is under Special Questions, and then Account issues. If you wish to expedite the process, please attach a scan of your government-issued ID using the 'Attach a file' link on the ticket submission page.

 

 

As you can see the failure page suggests that you can get Verified (Age verified you'd think because of the page) by adding a payment method.

 

Which from what I've gathered from the posts here is not the case.

[Ellla McMahon]

Thank you Danridar for your feedback. The issue has been reported to the documentarians dealing with age verification information.

[Torley Linden]

Hey everyone — thanks Ellla, I found this confusing too and earlier asked Kate Linden for help.

 

AGE Verification and ADULT Verification (more accurately: "ADULT maturity ratings are enabled on your account"), despite sounding similar, are two DIFFERENT things:

 

• You can be ADULT verified but NOT AGE verified.
• If you AGE verify, you're ALSO ADULT verified. (You get BOTH.)
  
• AGE verification requires that you submit accepted ID as detailed here.
• But, if you ONLY have payment info on file with us, you're ONLY ADULT verified.
• Being ADULT but NOT AGE verified means you can enter Adult-rated Regions but NOT parcels NOR Regions that SPECIFICALLY have access blocked for "Residents who are not age verified adults".
  

 

That Age Verification FAQ also needs to be updated in order to be clearer about types of ID we'll accept, and I'm working with other Lindens on that. We need to get it through the proper channels including legal clearance, but I wanted to share we ARE aware of this puzzlement.

[Torley Linden]

Thanks Danridar, see my reply to Ellla — and yes, the bolded part is confusing as it mixes up AGE Verification with ADULT Verification. I'm going to put in a follow-up task for our Creative Services to correct that.

[Baloo Uriza]

I wasn't confused before, but Torley confused the issue for me... I have to wonder if he's confusing payment info with age or adult verification there based on other documents I've seen in the KB...

[BlckCobra Shikami]

Hello Torley,

 

thank you for the above explanation. This clears up some real misunderstandings that arose lately.

Even region owners often do not understand what it means if their island is adult flagged and what it means to set a parcel to "Residents who are not age verified adults".

This IS actually very confusing: "You can be ADULT verified but NOT AGE verified". It means you are old enough to access adult content, but it's not clear wether you are 25,30,40, ... and for that you may not enter the specifically flagged parcel.

I will get me a pink and green dress, put on a silly hat and look for a corner where I can sit and think about that for a while :-)

 

Cobra

[Juanita Deharo]

Thanks for the answer Torley, it has answered my question.

It is confusing to have these two systems operating, especially when, on the surface, they appear to be the same thing, but at least i understand it now.I can't quite see why it would be necessary to have the two categories when one would suffice and be easier to understand.

Surely there is no reason to be 'age verified' if one is already accepted as 'adult' or vice versa. I guess the only benefit is that mainland owners of less than a whole sim can flag their land for age verification but not for adult but I am wondering how land flagged this way on the mainland is getting by the adult content rules.

Thanks again for the answer.

[Boroondas Gupte]

Um ... to add to the general confusion ... wasn't the union set of "Age Verified", "Payment Info on File", "Payment Info Used" and "Payment Info on XStreetSL" (i.e. the set of everyone who has at least one of the listed properties) called "Account Verified" rather than "Adult Verified"?

[Bianca Kendall]

What exactly is the purpose of age verification?  I was under the impression that the concept was developed for Zindra and other "Adult" land, to ensure that only adults could access those areas.  But, it seems that this is not the case.  Access to Adult areas only requires Adult Verification, and is therefore only marginally tighter than access to the rest of SL, as it is easy to have Payment Info on File using a PayPal account, even if you are underage.

Age verification, on the other hand, does not seem to be used by LL at all, but is rather for the use of land-owners who wish to restrict their land beyond the restrictions already set by Linden Lab.  I find it rather frustrating because I am both Adult verified and Age-verified, and although I can access any part of Zindra that I've tried, I still can't access land that land-owners have set to Age Verified, for some reason, even though it is sometimes in a "Mature" area rather than an "Adult" area.

[Teddi Beres]

It could also have to do with LL's shortsightedness in the variety of kinds and types of age authentication items in various countries. While a US ssn, driver's license, etc. are all well and good (and seem, to work), I have a Canadian friend who just can't get the stupid thing to recognize her driver's license and she's older than I am! C'mon, Canada's right THERE, LL, it's not like it's far from CA (where you're based).

Anyway, she eventually was verified through some other means, but as far as places putting specific restrictions on ID because a minor can get hold of a debit/credit card number? That's a ridiculous reason because a minor can get hold of ANY piece of ID and use it without a parent's knowledge. There's never any guarantee that a person using an ID of any kind is the actual ID holder.

[Baloo Uriza]

It could also have to do with LL's shortsightedness in the variety of kinds and types of age authentication items in various countries. While a US ssn, driver's license, etc. are all well and good (and seem, to work), I have a Canadian friend who just can't get the stupid thing to recognize her driver's license and she's older than I am! C'mon, Canada's right THERE, LL, it's not like it's far from CA (where you're based).

Heh, couple things wrong with what you just said there...

1. California's about a day's drive or train trip (longer if you fly thanks to security theater) from Canada (and Californians don't tend to get out much).
2. SSN isn't a form of ID that is legal for use outside tax purposes (and indeed the Lindens don't ask for it).
3. Passports, not driver's licenses, are the accepted form of ID when dealing across international boundaries.  Try going to a bar in BC with an Oregon driver's license as proof of age...they'll ask for your passport instead.

Anyway, she eventually was verified through some other means, but as far as places putting specific restrictions on ID because a minor can get hold of a debit/credit card number?

That's not the reason.  Credit card companies prohibit the use of credit card information as "proof of age," not because minors can get ahold of their parents cards, but because credit card companies don't check age:  I applied for one from US Bank, in person, without a parent, when I was 14, and got it.  This isn't a Linden rule, it's a "if you want to continue accepting our credit cards, you can't use them for these purposes" rule.  You do like being able to buy Linden dollars with a credit card instead of mailing a check, right?

[Shea Paule]

Yes, that's right, any kid can get Daddy's driver's license and get age verified in a few minutes, but someone like me who pays 100's of US Dollars every month to LL for a year for an island but cannot use the automatic age verification page has to wait.. and wait.. and wait.. still waiting.. 12 days and counting...

Concierge support is sympathetic but can do nothing except ask the governance team to expedite it, which so far has no effect. GRRRRR.

[Baloo Uriza]

Very few people have the same name as their father, so that's just not gonna work.

[Shea Paule]

Oh really?  You can give any name you want, including the name on the ID you want to use. Next I guess you'll be telling me you can't pay with a credit card unless your name is on it.