Social gaming platform Roblox recently introduced two new age-based accounts for younger users.
Roblox Kids, for users ages 5 to 8, and Roblox Select, for users ages 9 to 15, restrict certain features based on age and utilize an age-estimation tool to determine users’ ages. The age checks ensure that children engage with appropriate users of a similar age.
Eliza Jacobs, VP of safety product policy at Roblox, said the company’s AI-powered technology typically estimates a child’s age within 1.4 years by analyzing facial features.
“We’re optimistic that it will continue to get better and better. But as compared to picking your birthday on a drop-down list, it’s much more accurate,” Jacobs said. “Ticking a box to say you’re 13 or older, it’s not enough anymore.”
Industry expert and IDScan.net COO Jillian Kossman spoke with CasinoBeats about the importance of the company’s move for child safety and online identity protection. IDScan.net says it processes 35 million age verifications each month for clients, including Chevrolet, IBM, and Shell.
According to Kossman, children are up to 51 times more likely than adults to experience identity theft.
Protecting Children in the Digital Age
CasinoBeats: How significant was Roblox’s recent deployment of age-estimation technology?
Jillian Kossman: A platform as large as Roblox, with more than 111 million daily active users, deciding that self-declared age is no longer sufficient and introducing age-estimation technology to restrict access to certain features is an encouraging step and acts as a marker post for other age-restricted platforms.
Gaming platforms are increasingly facing the same challenge as social media networks, dating apps, adult content providers, and regulated sectors such as gambling in how to accurately determine whether someone is who they claim to be, and whether they are old enough to access specific services. The days of relying solely on trust, checkboxes, and self-attestation are rapidly coming to an end, and for good reason.
CB: Children are high-value targets for identity thieves. How are minors particularly vulnerable?
Kossman: This is happening against a backdrop of rising identity fraud involving children. Minors remain particularly attractive targets for organized criminal networks because their identities are often unused and unmonitored for years. At the same time, advances in AI are making identity deception more sophisticated than ever. From celebrity deepfakes used to promote scams, to synthetic identities and manipulated documents designed to bypass verification checks, fraudsters now have access to tools that significantly lower the barrier to impersonation and abuse.
CB: What does the growing push to combat child sexual abuse material, online grooming, and age-inappropriate content tell us about the state of digital protections today?
Kossman: The challenge is particularly acute in environments where protecting children is paramount. Regulators around the world are increasing pressure on digital platforms to take stronger action against child sexual abuse material (CSAM), online grooming, and age-inappropriate content. There’s a recent and prominent example where the UK has followed Australia in proposing a blanket ban on social media for under-16s, which is a sign that authorities aren’t confident in the ability to accurately verify the age of users and adjust their access to certain platforms accordingly, where they’ve instead opted to shut the doors entirely.
CB: What does Roblox’s recent move suggest about the future of online age verification?
Kossman: What Roblox’s move demonstrates is that effective verification is becoming a core safety requirement for any platform that facilitates digital interaction at scale. Whether in gaming, social media, online dating, adult content, or regulated industries such as gambling, organizations are increasingly expected to deploy layered verification measures that can keep pace with evolving fraud techniques while protecting user privacy.
The direction of travel is clear. Regulators want safeguards that are demonstrably effective, technology providers are developing more sophisticated methods to verify age and identity, and consumers increasingly expect platforms to take responsibility for who is accessing their services.
