ESRB Clears Up Facial Age Estimation Misconceptions: Not Meant for Scanning Children’s Faces
The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has recently addressed concerns and clarified the purpose of their application for Facial Age Estimation. Contrary to speculations, the ESRB states that this technology will not be used to scan children’s faces to verify their ages. Instead, it will focus on facilitating parental consent during the sign-up process for new games.
Rumors began circulating after the ESRB and digital identity firm Yoti submitted an application to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) detailing their design for Facial Age Estimation. Reports suggested that this technology could potentially be used to scan children’s faces and determine their age before they attempted to purchase age-restricted video games. However, the ESRB has explicitly denied these claims.
In an email response to IGN, the ESRB provided clarifications regarding their Facial Age Estimation application. They explained that the software is not intended to authorize the use of this technology with children. The ESRB emphasized that the application does not store users’ selfies or verify their identity. Furthermore, it will not employ age estimation to prevent children from buying or downloading restrictively rated video games.
The primary purpose of the Facial Age Estimation application, according to the ESRB, is to serve as a verifiable parental consent mechanism. It offers an alternative to existing methods and does not rely on technologies like Apple’s FaceID scanners found in iPhones. Instead, the application verifies parental consent through a facial scan, without storing the actual image. Instead, certain portions of the image are cross-referenced with a pre-existing database to determine if the scanned face appears to be older than 25 years old, consequently validating the parental consent.
The ESRB clarified that the facial scans involved are live and not intended for facial recognition to determine identity. They illustrated a scenario in which this technology would be utilized: when a child attempts to sign up for a new service or platform, they would typically be prompted to provide a parent’s or caregiver’s email address or contact information. If a company employing Yoti’s technology is collecting the data, the parent would be asked to provide consent and use their phone’s front-facing camera for a live facial scan. Yoti’s technology encrypts the scan information, which is then processed to estimate the parent’s age accurately. The ESRB has recommended setting an age threshold of 25 to prevent older-looking teenagers or children from impersonating parents.
The ESRB assures that no data used during the process will be stored, shared, or used for AI training. They emphasize that the aim is to provide a highly privacy protective solution for verifiable parental consent (VPC).
While concerns regarding carding young gamers during the purchase of age-restricted titles seem to have been debunked, there are still uncertainties about the actual implementation of the Facial Age Estimation technology. At present, the application and email from the ESRB primarily serve as theoretical explanations. The exact details of where and how this technology will be integrated remain to be seen.
