Introducing Age Verification | Developer Update #vrchat

Introducing Age Verification -- a new system designed to increase trust between VRChat users.

0:00 Intro
0:38 Why Age Verification?
1:46 What Does Age Verification in VRChat Look Like?
3:28 Rolling Out Age Verification
4:18 Conclusion

[TheSmalHobbit]

I cannot wait to be able to join a public Midnight Bar and not have a 12 year old run up and start screaming for liqour.

[tamfie]

VRChat is partnering with PERSONA
HOLY SHIT JOKER

[farhadaa]

One thing, if they only need your DoB, you can obscure any other sensitive information on your ID by taping it off or editing it black digitally and then upload that which only shows your DoB, there is no need for them to see all your personal info, if they don't accept it that way than that is suspicious and not according to the EU's GDPR.

[MauveMagician]

After reading a bit on Persona's privacy policy, it looks like you, as the controller of our data, will have the ability to remove all our personal data from Persona's database immediately after you see our date of birth, after a successful verification. You also don't need to retain the DOB after confirming that we're above 18. Is this what you're actually planning to do?
If that's not the case: How long do you plan to retain it for, as you have the ability to set the timer for automatic deletion? It seems you will also be handling our requests to remove personal information, can you clarify if that can easily be done immediately after verification, or within a reasonably very short time, and no data will be kept by both you and Persona, and your/their partners?

This is important as many people are unwilling to risk having another company keep all their personal information even for a few days, and upon request this information also can be accessed by you, including names, photos, videos, addresses and identification numbers, as shown by the API and privacy policy, for example the DOB isn't shown "by default", but you want to see it and you can.

Please clarify on what exactly happens to our information, what you will do and we will be able to do, to protect it.

[Artorikus]

This is a very important update. FINALLY!
Please make it available for everyone as soon as possible, PLEASE.

[Elvuine]

I have a feeling the information are gonna get leaked somehow

[EpsilonZolton]

probably the best way to have done this
it doesn’t instantly cut out the kids who actually do have a friend group in vrchat to suddenly not be able to access vrc but it’s just a way to filter them out and that’s all it needs to be

[chaosinsurgent]

I think another thing is adding a visual indicator that is toggleably on a user's name plate that allows the user to put their verification status on the nameplate, whether age verified, or 18 plus verified, cause not all people take the time to look at profiles in detail like that, just a thought

[Andreazor]

Persona is not based in the EU. They are based in San Francisco. They are not subject to GDPR, but they say they are GDPR compliant. The fact that you get this wrong is quite worrying.
On top of this I feel like, especially for the EU, using eID would be much preferable to this. eID is widely available and much more secure than this.

[evalkavrc]

1:05 yooo! that's my world ^^ thank you so much for my first feature!

Edit: the world is called "Light in the Fog" for those asking!

[Liravin]

one can only imagine the amount of friend groups which will break apart over this now because people lied about their age. not saying this as a complaint, of course. it's just something i've already seen happen, people lying about their age and then tearing apart an entire community, literally. once again, this VRChat feature wouldn't be to blame, it would only be the trigger.

[DarkFoxes]

At least they made it optional because despite being of age there is no dam way I'm going to be giving such case sensitive stuff away so willy nillie, I know no one cares that much about privacy anymore tho I ain't one of those so kudo to make it an optional thing.

[infinitemausoleum]

I guess my biggest questions are:
1) You mention it impacting content filters in the future, would this mean unverified/underage accounts could be prohibited from using certain avatars or accessing certain worlds?
2) What is VRChat's plan to combat false positives, like a kid stealing their parents' ID or using an adult's account?
3) Given the enormous amount of content already on the platform, what's the plan to handle things from before content filtering?

[VRChat]

As a heads up: we mention in the video that Persona is based in the EU -- they are based in the US. However, they are *still* required to follow the GDPR, so that part is correct.

blame tupper ok

[GiatrosDys]

Black hats seeing companies rolling out ID verification requirements and enjoying its first iterations of security: loadsamoney

[chaosfire]

Glad to hear about this. VRChat was long due for some age verification and I'm glad y'all are taking it seriously.

[Gravatex]

While I'm very on the side of age verification, data privacy is also a huge part of it for me. Even though I'd like to verify myself and that others are verified, I do not like the idea of sharing personal information past my age, as persona sometimes asks for (not a concern on you taking it). They also sometimes charge for this, and I am not the biggest fan of the idea of paying someone to take my identifiers. Again, I am completely for this change, but I personally will wait and see how it goes. These changes can often go badly, I've seen it before with other games, and with things in real life such as stores containing adult contents. For now, I am not willing to use the service, even if there are some places/worlds, avatars, and groups I cannot access. Props to you guys though, this is a huge leap forward!

[buzer]

damn this is exactly what I was afraid of - my country is not supported by Persona, I will be locked out of adult spaces eventually, and I will not even be able to wear my avatars and see other people in adult avatars - effectively destroying the game for me

[mara]

I WAS TALKING ABOUT THIS YESTERDAY, THIS IS HUGE

[MamaLovemoon]

this is awesome! it's extremely concerning how many minors are let roam free completely unattended in the VRchat hellhole