Roblox Introduces Facial Age Estimation – Kids Can't Bypass It
Roblox is implementing facial age estimation technology to sort users into age brackets, and a demo with NBC News showed that children couldn't fool the system. A company executive emphasized that simply ticking a box to confirm age is no longer sufficient.
Roblox's vice president of safety product policy, Eliza Jacobs, told NBC News that the company is “optimistic” about its new facial age estimation tech and expects it to improve further. “Ticking a box to say you’re 13 or older, it’s not enough anymore,” she said.
NBC invited a group of kids to try out Roblox’s new video selfie age check process, but they weren’t able to get around it even with a fake mustache. Jacobs claims Roblox’s facial age estimates can typically land “within 1.4 years of a child’s exact age.”
Roblox announced plans in April to begin using this technology to sort players into age brackets. Users under 16 are now assigned to Roblox Select accounts, while those under 9 get Kids accounts with restricted access to chat and certain game types. Players can also verify their age using a government ID, or parents can manually set their child’s age group.
In April, Roblox reported a drop in daily users after rolling out the age checks. However, Jacobs stood by the platform’s verification measures, stating, “We have a long-term vision of safety and civility on the platform that we’re building towards that we believe in. It’s OK if some people are not always happy about that.”
