Roblox exec says age verification box ‘isn’t enough anymore’

Roblox’s vice president of security, Eliza Jacobs, said NBC News that Roblox is “hopeful” that its new age estimation technology will “continue to be successful,” and that, “Putting a box saying you’re 13 or older is no longer enough.” NBC asked a group of kids to try out a new way to watch Roblox videos, but they couldn’t get around it with fake mustaches. Jacobs says Roblox’s facial age estimation can be “within 1.4 years of a child’s actual age.”

Roblox announced its plans in April to roll out its age-old selfie video technology select players in age groups. Users under the age of 16 and 9 have now been converted to Roblox Select and Kids accounts, respectively, which do not have access to other game modes. Players can also use a government ID to verify their age, or parents can manually create their child’s age.

In April, Roblox reported a download users daily after checking the age. However, Jacobs stood by the platform’s age guarantee, saying, “We have a long-term vision for security and a culture of security for the platform we’re building on what we believe in.” He added, “It’s okay if some people don’t always like it.”