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Community Updates 2026

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Comments

  • DancerDancer Community Connector Posts: 8,294 Legendary Poster
    ellie2000 wrote: »
    Ppl can use any person's photo if they don't want to use their one

    That is a very valid point.
    "There's a part of me I can't get back. A little girl grew up too fast. All it took was once. I'll never be the same." ~ Demi Lovato
    "The way that I have found the light in my life is through the expressive arts because I know that I will be accepted for the way I am." ~ Me
    "I'm going to get strong again and see you soon. " ~ Anonymous 
  • BensonEBensonE Posts: 253 The Mix Regular
    ellie2000 wrote: »
    Ppl can use any person's photo if they don't want to use their one

    From my knowledge the software uses 3d imagery scans, so Im guessing maybe it has a way to tell if its a photo graph/ image compared to a real person

    However if your point was they could use another real person face instead of own I agree
  • independent_independent_ Community Connector Posts: 10,113 An Original Mixlorian
    edited January 18
    As far as I’m aware you have to take the photo live as well and you can’t upload a photo. I have already asked on the initial thread about accessibility concerns, particularly for visually impaired people as Live Photo taking can be a challenge for us. I have managed it in the past with different companies but I have never used yoti before myself and a concern of mine is what if it doesn’t work .. I have been honest about my age from the start and 10 years would be a long time for me to be telling any fibs. If I run into accessibility issues with the platform that could be a problem as well. I’m good with tech so will likely figure it out but some others may find it more difficult.

    My other thought was if someone like myself feels more comfortable with a selfie than an ID, what if they happen to look a day over 26? Will we be able to see what age it thinks we are? Both reddit and discord verified me straight away as an adult through a selfie, but it didn’t tell me what age it thought I was. What if it just says adult are you going to be asking for ID to prove what age of adult that is?

    Ik i keep editing this but another one: same could actually apply to teens who have just turned 13 as well. You don’t suddenly look an age. I have already raised concerns about young teens and ID, but if the only option they have available to them is a selfie and that selfie thinks they’re still 12 they’re pretty screwed. I had literally just turned 13 when I joined here. Who knows if i would have got through it
    “Sometimes the people around you won’t understand your journey. They don’t need to, it’s not for them.”
  • BensonEBensonE Posts: 253 The Mix Regular
    As far as I’m aware you have to take the photo live as well and you can’t upload a photo. I have already asked on the initial thread about accessibility concerns, particularly for visually impaired people as Live Photo taking can be a challenge for us. I have managed it in the past with different companies but I have never used yoti before myself and a concern of mine is what if it doesn’t work .. I have been honest about my age from the start and 10 years would be a long time for me to be telling any fibs. If I run into accessibility issues with the platform that could be a problem as well. I’m good with tech so will likely figure it out but some others may find it more difficult.

    Yoti id software lets you upload image if i remember correctly, I haven't experienced yoti face scan technology though
  • independent_independent_ Community Connector Posts: 10,113 An Original Mixlorian
    @Nathan thank you for your insight above as well it is definitely an interesting read. I would be interested to see if the mix confirms these are the sections they are basing this decision off of.
    “Sometimes the people around you won’t understand your journey. They don’t need to, it’s not for them.”
  • NathanNathan Community Connector Posts: 2,933 Boards Guru
    edited January 18
    ellie2000 wrote: »
    Ppl can use any person's photo if they don't want to use their one

    great point. There's been countless case's where this has happened with both live photo requirements, and also photo upload requirements. There are a few proven case's of it, where the 3d imagery scans have failed and easily been bypassed with fake pictures of different people.

    https://www.theverge.com/report/714402/uk-age-verification-bypass-death-stranding-reddit-discord
  • BensonEBensonE Posts: 253 The Mix Regular
    wrote: »
    ellie2000 wrote: »
    Ppl can use any person's photo if they don't want to use their one

    great point. There's been countless case's where this has happened with both live photo requirements, and also photo upload requirements. There are a few proven case's of it, where the 3d imagery scans have failed and easily been bypassed with fake pictures of different people.

    https://www.theverge.com/report/714402/uk-age-verification-bypass-death-stranding-reddit-discord

    Hello im not here to argue but I decided to read the article myself (im only about 1/4 way through) and the article does say that most common method used to trick age verification software failed when it was used on YOTI, showing that YOTI has software to prevent at least one of the methods to trick age verification

    Also the article was about using it to prove your a adult which i feel there is alot more recourse out there that allow you to use trick effectively as stated in article
  • DancerDancer Community Connector Posts: 8,294 Legendary Poster
    edited January 18
    Nathan wrote: »
    ellie2000 wrote: »
    Ppl can use any person's photo if they don't want to use their one

    great point. There's been countless case's where this has happened with both live photo requirements, and also photo upload requirements. There are a few proven case's of it, where the 3d imagery scans have failed and easily been bypassed with fake pictures of different people.

    https://www.theverge.com/report/714402/uk-age-verification-bypass-death-stranding-reddit-discord

    I don`t think people here would be that stupid.
    "There's a part of me I can't get back. A little girl grew up too fast. All it took was once. I'll never be the same." ~ Demi Lovato
    "The way that I have found the light in my life is through the expressive arts because I know that I will be accepted for the way I am." ~ Me
    "I'm going to get strong again and see you soon. " ~ Anonymous 
  • DancerDancer Community Connector Posts: 8,294 Legendary Poster
    Has it been considered that this community has vulnerable people on here who might feel unsafe sharing their ID even on an official verification platform? Especially if there is a mistake with the age estimate which there can be and the people end up being banned from The Mix or if there is a data breach (which can happen) and information gets leaked and people who shouldn`t know someone`s name or where they live gets hold of it.
    "There's a part of me I can't get back. A little girl grew up too fast. All it took was once. I'll never be the same." ~ Demi Lovato
    "The way that I have found the light in my life is through the expressive arts because I know that I will be accepted for the way I am." ~ Me
    "I'm going to get strong again and see you soon. " ~ Anonymous 
  • NathanNathan Community Connector Posts: 2,933 Boards Guru
    edited January 18
    Nathan wrote: »
    Sian321 wrote: »
    Thank you for your questions about which service will be authorizing the age verification checks.

    I can confirm that as shared on this thread (https://community.themix.org.uk/discussion/comment/3790150#Comment_3790150) it will indeed be YOTI who run the age verification checks.

    You can find out more about YOTI here: https://www.yoti.com/blog/seven-things-you-need-to-know-about-our-digital-ids/.

    We'll have more answers to come on this next week!

    @Sian321 that's awesome. Yoti is UK based, under the jurisdiction of the GDPR, and have never had a breach before, suggesting they have solid cyber security and great data handling practice's. I'm 100% comfortable sending a photo of my ID to them.

    @BensonE That's actually the main reason I previously spoke in this thread about Yoti being awesome, with them having a great track record, and me even being comfortable enough sending my photo ID to them if needed. You are right that the bypass didn't work on Yoti, much to it's strength, and i would argue it's the most effective system currently available.

    That being said, my concern is with the potential of emerging, more advanced spoofing. Without going into too much technical details, Yoti works by using a deep neural network in order to identify whether it's engaging with a real face or not, and shut down any spoofing attempts. This is a field of study that is rapidly evolving. Like many other technology fields, including Cyber Security, preventative methods that are effective now against it, like what yoti has, may not always be effective in future, as it bypass methods become more advanced, which is why i think it is a very valid concern to have about using others faces, real or fake ones, in future, which is why i see it as a perfectly valid concern.

    And i think the Mix intend to use it to ensure that users are below 26, and are allowed within their age remit here, which is why i drew comparison to the age detection tools in question in the article.
    Post edited by Nathan on
  • NathanNathan Community Connector Posts: 2,933 Boards Guru
    edited January 18
    Dancer wrote: »
    Nathan wrote: »
    ellie2000 wrote: »
    Ppl can use any person's photo if they don't want to use their one

    great point. There's been countless case's where this has happened with both live photo requirements, and also photo upload requirements. There are a few proven case's of it, where the 3d imagery scans have failed and easily been bypassed with fake pictures of different people.

    https://www.theverge.com/report/714402/uk-age-verification-bypass-death-stranding-reddit-discord

    I don`t think people here would be that stupid.

    @Dancer it's not a question of that, it's a simple statement of fact that it's a very valid concern that was raised, and i wanted to support it with evidence of how similar systems have in the past been bypassed using all sorts of different methods including using others face's, including deepfakes, and why it's valid to have such concerns about it. At no stage here did i describe anyone as "stupid", or ever imply user's were. There hasn't been any mention of stupidity raised in this conversation other than by yourself, which i find completely unnecessary.

    https://www.mdpi.com/2504-2289/7/1/37

    https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/brits-can-get-around-discords-age-verification-thanks-to-death-strandings-photo-mode-bypassing-the-measure-introduced-with-the-uks-online-safety-act-we-tried-it-and-it-works-thanks-kojima/

    https://arxiv.org/abs/2202.10673
  • BensonEBensonE Posts: 253 The Mix Regular
    Nathan wrote: »
    Nathan wrote: »
    Sian321 wrote: »
    Thank you for your questions about which service will be authorizing the age verification checks.

    I can confirm that as shared on this thread (https://community.themix.org.uk/discussion/comment/3790150#Comment_3790150) it will indeed be YOTI who run the age verification checks.

    You can find out more about YOTI here: https://www.yoti.com/blog/seven-things-you-need-to-know-about-our-digital-ids/.

    We'll have more answers to come on this next week!

    @Sian321 that's awesome. Yoti is UK based, under the jurisdiction of the GDPR, and have never had a breach before, suggesting they have solid cyber security and great data handling practice's. I'm 100% comfortable sending a photo of my ID to them.

    @BensonE That's actually the main reason I previously spoke in this thread about Yoti being awesome, with them having a great track record, and me even being comfortable enough sending my photo ID to them if needed. You are right that the bypass didn't work on Yoti, much to it's strength, and i would argue it's the most effective system currently available.

    That being said, my concern is with the potential of emerging, more advanced spoofing. Without going into too much technical details, Yoti works by using a deep neural network in order to identify whether it's engaging with a real face or not, and shut down any spoofing attempts. This is a field of study that is rapidly evolving. Like many other technology fields, including Cyber Security, preventative methods that are effective now against it, like what yoti has, may not always be effective in future, as it bypass methods become more advanced, which is why i think it is a very valid concern to have about using others faces, real or fake ones, in future, which is why i see it as a perfectly valid concern.

    And i think the Mix intend to use it to ensure that users are below 26, and are allowed within their age remit here, which is why i drew comparison to the age detection tools in question in the article.

    Glad we can agree that yoti is advance
  • independent_independent_ Community Connector Posts: 10,113 An Original Mixlorian
    Dancer wrote: »
    Has it been considered that this community has vulnerable people on here who might feel unsafe sharing their ID even on an official verification platform? Especially if there is a mistake with the age estimate which there can be and the people end up being banned from The Mix or if there is a data breach (which can happen) and information gets leaked and people who shouldn`t know someone`s name or where they live gets hold of it.

    This is a very good point that i hadn’t even considered @Dancer. From what I know yoti is one of the most secure ones out there, but I agree that some people might have concerns beyond the usual ones.

    If someone is in that type of situation, which arguably might be what leads them to the mix in the first place, it is very valid for them to be concerned about it regardless of what the privacy policies say.
    “Sometimes the people around you won’t understand your journey. They don’t need to, it’s not for them.”
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