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[Spyxos]

Remember a couple years ago, when Chinese gaming giant Tencent began using facial recognition to keep the kids from playing too many videogames? It turns out that the Entertainment Software Rating Board, North America's videogame rating agency, is looking to do something quite similar.

The ESRB, along with digital identity company Yoti and Epic Games-owned "youth digital media" company SuperAwesome, have filed a proposal with the FTC seeking approval for a new "verifiable parental consent mechanism" called Privacy-Protective Facial Age Estimation. Simply put, the parent takes a selfie, assisted by an "auto face capture module," which is then analyzed by the system to ensure it's the face of an adult, who can then grant whatever permissions are required. The entire process of verification takes less than a second "on average," and images are permanently deleted after the verification is complete.

"The upload of still images is not accepted, and photos that do not meet the required level of quality to create an age estimate are rejected," the filing states. "These factors minimize the risk of circumvention and of children taking images of unaware adults."

It's important to note that none of this is proposed as a replacement for current systems: Instead, the ESRB presented its facial recognition plan as "an additional, optional verification method" that will be of particular use to people who don't have photo ID. So that's a good thing, at least.

The ESRB actually made its request to the FTC back on June 2, but it's only come to light now (via GamesIndustry) because the FTC is now seeking public comment on the plan. If you'd like to share your thoughts, you've got until August 21 to do so at federalregister.gov.

The ESRB wants to start using facial scanning technology to check people's ages

The FTC is now seeking public feedback on the ESRB's proposal.

www.pcgamer.com

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Fuck right off with this facial recognition shit! Hopefully it gets shutdown asap!

 

[Bernoulli]

it's going to get approved because everyone dislikes the FTC right?

 

[TheSHEEEP]

It would be absolutely hilarious if that software failed to recognize ages correctly for some facial types (eg asian).
Because that's how these facial recognition softwares usually work - really well on some facial types, really badly on others.

 

[Schmendrick]

We could solve the world`s energy issues by harnessing the rotational energy of Orwell`s corpse spinning in his grave..

 

[MayauMiao]

All this does is to make piracy a better alternative.

 

[hyperbertha]

And I suppose in the future, porn sites will have facial recognition to ensure only parents get to watch?

 

[Myths]

Storing your faces in a data base too… more and more intrusive it seems

 

[ozz ex machina]

There's no fucking way a system like this would be accurate enough for someone who has just turned the right age.

 

[Toots]

In France the child president said about the last riots (which started because a cop killed a 17 yo unarmed dude), we need "order, order, order".
Western civilisation cannot die quickly enough (the current neoliberal imperialistic Chinese society is a western one in all its prevalent traits to me)

 

[M1chl]

Does Tencent have stake there, just asking

 

[rofif]

gtfo police state bs

 

[SaucyJack]

 

[Griffon]

Not only is this a privacy nightmare, but kids will also find ways to circumvent this in literal seconds.

Evil and useless at the same time.

 

[Skifi28]

I have a baby face, I'm in so much trouble.

 

[GymWolf]

Can they guess my age if i show my asshole to the camera instead?

Can they do like you do with trees and count the inner circles?

 

[Mephisto40]

And once your face is taken it's stored on some random server for god knows what purpose in the future

HOW ABOUT NO

 

[kiphalfton]

ESRB:

 

[RJMacready73]

It would be absolutely hilarious if that software failed to recognize ages correctly for some facial types (eg asian).
Because that's how these facial recognition softwares usually work - really well on some facial types, really badly on others.

tbf if the Chinese government can get this to work at scale on their citizens who ahem look mighty similar to one another when looking at a crowd then this will be wee buns for us westerners

 

[winjer]

Stalin and Hitler would aprove of authoritarian crap like this.

 

[Drell]

And I guess you can just show a random photo of qn adult and it will work?

 

[TheSHEEEP]

tbf if the Chinese government can get this to work at scale on their citizens who ahem look mighty similar to one another when looking at a crowd then this will be wee buns for us westerners

You show some pretty question worthy stances here saying "they all look the same".
They might look the same to you, not to each other. To them, we all look the same.

The truth is, no "race" looks the same, the differences are just in very different areas we are naturally "trained" to spot as we grow up (or not in case we don't see it that often).
And the same holds true for recognition software - for example, there have been a lot of cases for caucasian or african/african american/etc. people in China or Japan where the local recognition software eg in banking terminals couldn't "deal with them" properly and they had to get staff to help. Imagine how awkward that must've been for everyone involved.

 

[StereoVsn]

Yes, because if there is one place I would trust with my biometrics data is ESRB.

- A few years later: ESRB has been targeted by a nation state hacker group and biometrics information from millions of users have been exhilarated.

 

[Lucifers Beard]

Lol this is a crazy idea and will go tits up almost immediately if used.

 

[Davevil]

my face

 

[Guilty_AI]

Remember people, there's always more to it.

 

[Holammer]

So the system won't accept still images? Sounds like a minor engineering challenge tbh. With AI being able to do temporarily stable animations from stills now.
Knowing Epic, they are pushing for this because they have the infrastructure and technology to sell.

 

[Gudji]

 

[RoboFu]

That’s a pretty fascist way of doing things.

 

[TheSHEEEP]

my face

I do love eating lemons, though.

 

[VN1X]

Serious question but what's to stop someone from simply holding up a picture?

 

[Hudo]

What if I don't have a face?

 

[Drizzlehell]

If that kind of shit would become a thing then I would legit stop gaming and focus on another hobby, lol.

 

[Skifi28]

Serious question but what's to stop someone from simply holding up a picture?

Honor. Though if honor was enough, then we wouldn't push for face recognition in the first place.

 

[Punished Miku]

Not sure that's invasive enough. Might need a blood sample.

 

[Joramun]

invading privacy with the guise of security

make no mistake western governments want the same surveillance overreach the CCP has over their citizens

 

[RavenSan]

I feel like a lot of you aren't reading the OP:

Simply put, the parent takes a selfie, assisted by an "auto face capture module," which is then analyzed by the system to ensure it's the face of an adult, who can then grant whatever permissions are required. The entire process of verification takes less than a second "on average," and images are permanently deleted after the verification is complete.

So this is basically an optional parental control -- not a mandatory ESRB check on every game on every system. No different to FaceID on a phone, I suppose. I'm not opposed to that option on consoles/PCs -- but I probably wouldn't use it personally.

 

[lh032]

i can imagine most asian gamers would be considered under age then.

 

[LordCBH]

Hey ESRB: go sue in a hole. Thanks.

 

[Loomy]

This is something that exists already outside of China. It is also fucked up. But then again, a whole bunch of us use our faces to unlock our phones.

 

[TheSHEEEP]

Serious question but what's to stop someone from simply holding up a picture?

You can tell relatively easily if someone is holding up a picture.

Unless of course, you hold it up in the perfect spot, have no light reflection, etc.
But even then, this kind of software can take multiple images in short succession and that kind of "frame show" would usually reveal that it is a photo.
Either by the image moving around, or actually there not being any change at all - both would be giveaways.

In other words, you might be able to fool a very bad facial recognition that way, but not a more advanced one.

Now, if that software wants to use your webcam or camera and you make it supply a fake "live" video instead, that should do the trick.
But that is of course a more advanced thing to do likely beyond most users' capabilities.

 

[ReBurn]

The ESRB are your kid's parents now.

 

[Killer8]

As much as they want to say it, it's not about protecting the kids - it's all about harvesting your data and control.

 

[StereoVsn]

I feel like a lot of you aren't reading the OP:

Simply put, the parent takes a selfie, assisted by an "auto face capture module," which is then analyzed by the system to ensure it's the face of an adult, who can then grant whatever permissions are required. The entire process of verification takes less than a second "on average," and images are permanently deleted after the verification is complete.

So this is basically an optional parental control -- not a mandatory ESRB check on every game on every system. No different to FaceID on a phone, I suppose. I'm not opposed to that option on consoles/PCs -- but I probably wouldn't use it personally.

I trust Tim Apple on the fact that FaceTime evaluation is on the phone itself and that Apple doesn't upload biometric data into iCloud.

I have 0 trust into whatever the outfit that's doing this to properly delete and not keep the data since it's not evaluated on phone itself.

That's a lot of trust to give out to random organization and even more random tech company behind the app.

 

[CuteFaceJay]

Imagine how bad GTA 6 sales would be if this was an actual thing

 

[Interfectum]

Social media is destroying humanity. The world is on the decline. ESRB worrying about a 14 year old playing GTA6.

 

[yurinka]

George Orwell approves this

I trust Tim Apple on the fact that FaceTime evaluation is on the phone itself and that Apple doesn't upload biometric data into iCloud.

The operative systems and apps of Apple, Microsoft, Google or Facebook to name a few have dozens of backdoors for dozens of intelligence agencies of several countries (USA and USA allies) to get whatever they want. That obviously includes access to your cameras and microphones.

 

[StereoVsn]

George Orwell approves this


The operative systems and apps of Apple, Microsoft, Google or Facebook to name a few have dozens of backdoors for dozens of intelligence agencies of several countries (USA and USA allies) to get whatever they want. That obviously includes access to your cameras and microphones.

Sure, but I also have a nice tinfoil hat to protect myself. There is being cautious and there is this.

As an example, Apple is threatening to pull Facetime and iMessage from UK if they proceed with their current "But think if the children" encryption backdoor bill.

 

[RavenSan]

I trust Tim Apple on the fact that FaceTime evaluation is on the phone itself and that Apple doesn't upload biometric data into iCloud.

I have 0 trust into whatever the outfit that's doing this to properly delete and not keep the data since it's not evaluated on phone itself.

That's a lot of trust to give out to random organization and even more random tech company behind the app.

Yeah me either -- like I said, I likely wouldn't use it -- but I also don't care what other people do with their likeness/privacy/etc. If parents want this kind of thing, good for them.

 

[Deft Beck]

This is not worth it just to be able to play a mature rated game on a console. No way of enforcing this on PC.