Roblox adds age checks via facial estimation to limit chat to similar age group

Gaming platform Roblox has announced a range of restrictions on its platform which will be enforced by age estimation to ensure the safety of their users.

While the official Roblox announcement doesn’t reference it, this move comes following scrutiny from Australia’s eSaftey Commissioner and the office’s concern about Roblox’s compliance with Australia’s Online Safety Act, which ensures these platforms must take “meaningful action” to prioritise the protection of children.

That they have done. Roblox announced that “As the internet has matured, technological advancements in safety and security have steadily shifted the industry’s approach to age assurance. While initial efforts relied on simple self-declared age to manage access to features, the industry has since progressed to behavioral based methods.”

Going on to say “Today, Roblox is going further. We’re unlocking chat and age-appropriate experiences for our users by requiring them to complete an age check through Facial Age Estimation or ID verification. Once the age check is complete, users will only be allowed to chat with others in similar age groups, unless they become Trusted Connections with people they know. “

Essentially, Roblox has created user groupings for ages “under 9”, “9-12”, “13-15”, “16-17”, “18-20” and 21 plus. Over the weeks ahead, users will only be able to chat with other users in their own age group, or, someone who is confirmed as a trusted connection.

Users under 13 will not have access to Trusted connections, but for those over 13, they can add a trusted connection with any user via a real-world verification, using either a QR code or contact importer. Basically, if you’ve got their number saved in your phone, you can connect. This will enable family and friend group chat to continue, but does mean parents need to keep a close eye on just who their kids have in their phone contact list.

In simple terms, these age groupings mean that over 16’s can’t chat with under 16’s, but a 16 year old could add their younger sibling to ensure they can chat within game situations.

As of today, all Roblox users can now voluntarily go through Facial Age Estimation. From the first week of December, the age-check will be a requirement in Australia, expanding globally early next year.

The entire age estimation process happens within the Roblox App, using your device camera. Images and video used in the process are – according to Roblox, deleted immediately after processing by

their third party provider “Persona”.

This is great news, and sets a standard for how things should be done, and frankly should always have been done, but the wild wild west of the internet is finally catching up to the real world and the standards of limiting content and experiences by age.