Age Verification - Upcoming Change

Katie

This page is super helpful if you want to learn about Yoti's Digital IDs which you can apply for personally and use yourself at cinemas, shops, 18+ gaming premises etc. (location dependent!).

independent_

If you already have a digital ID can you use that for here? I was thinking for accessibility testing purposes for myself

River

@Katie i only have college ID card

Katie

@independent_ Our answer right now is that we'll only be able to verify ages through Yoti. This is because our discussion board users will be taken to the external site of our supplier (Yoti), which is where the age estimation takes place. It doesn't take place on our website. Yoti's site will be where you either take a photo of yourself or a photo of your ID.

@Rose113 In cases where people don't have ID, to verify their age we would encourage them to take a photo of themselves instead. This is because the two options to verify your age will either be to take a photo of yourself or your ID

And to be clear: No one at The Mix or MHI will ever see your photo or ID. Yoti’s system only sends us an age estimate.

independent_

Hi @TheMix just wondering if this has had to be implemented yet? I have just had to do it to access parts of discord and reddit wants me to do it now too for fuck’s sake

Redemption

independent_ wrote: »

Hi @TheMix just wondering if this has had to be implemented yet? I have just had to do it to access parts of discord and reddit wants me to do it now too for fuck’s sake

@independent_ you're screwed when this gets implemented you're like 500 times out of the cut off age

independent_

It pains me having to do it at all but discord and reddit now believe that I am an adult, but didn’t show me what age they thought I was, so I have no idea how it’d work for here.

@Redemption haha, without knowing what it thinks I am, you might not be far wrong.

eylah

i never actually read this but i don’t have id so would i be kicked off? i can’t afford any id 🤣

independent_

@eylah I’ve just done it twice in a row with just a selfie, no ID required for that, but like I say, no idea how it’ll actually work in practice for here.

eylah

independent_ wrote: »

@eylah I’ve just done it twice in a row with just a selfie, no ID required for that, but like I say, no idea how it’ll actually work in practice for here.

oh ok! hopefully @TheMix can explain further ! hope you’re ok

Leyla

Hey @independent_ and @eylah Thank you for the questions, I have just asked to get some answers

As it stands we are looking to implement the age verification in the much latter part of the year, but this is all dependent on the capacity of our tech teams so it might be later than that

In terms of needing ID, you wouldn't be kicked out if you didn't have ID! As Elle said, you can take a picture if you do not have ID

We will be using Yoti for this age verification and you can see their page here and it will hopefully answer some questions you may have. They list a lot of ways you can verify your age, but the options I am sure have been discussed thus far are uploading a picture of your ID or using a picture taken using Yoti's system

These are our plans as it stands, but things could change as we continue to take advice on the best and most suitable ways of implementing age verification - this is very new so new things are coming out about it every day!

independent_

@Leyla thank you so much for your detailed and prompt answer, makes a pleasant change from the first few pages of this thread.

I thought this had to be brought in by 25th July? At least that’s what I read. If it doesn’t have to be brought in by the specified date for here, I question why it’s needed at all? It’s either it needs to be brought in by XYZ date as other sites are now doing, or not at all, surely?

I’m curious what other sites along similar lines, like Side by Side and ChildLine, are doing with regards to this, if anything at all. I will have to look into this

River

@Leyla i had to use yoti for another app and it couldn’t even calculate my age 💀

Leyla

@independent_ Hey Elle, had to double check if I was correct on this one but:

We were aiming to have it implemented earlier and the platform that Community is on and our tech team are working to embed it into our platform, but there have been some tech struggles with making it compatible with our website and we don't have the capacity that a lot of other bigger charities or platforms may have to get this done in time, so we are currently working on it still

I believe the reason July 25th has not strictly applied here is because we have demonstrated that we are actively working on implementing it and the higher boards are confident that it will be done based on what The Mix are doing behind the scenes

As for what other charities are doing, I actually am not sure myself! If you find anything about that then it would be interesting to know what other places are doing

Leyla

@River Oh no!! They say on their site it's like 99% accurate but all technology has its moments I suppose, have you had to use any other age verification sites/did they work?

River

@Leyla i used another that was just on the social media site I was trying to get back on and that didn’t work either 😂 I don’t have an age it seems

independent_

@Leyla that's interesting, good to know. I hadn't thought it could be extended if you were working on it, and given that the initial post says April (I think, unless it's edited and I haven't seen) I'd have thought that was the final date for it.

Interestingly I had a look at the 2 organisations I mentioned yesterday, and there doesn't seem to be any news from either of them about having to do this at all...