Microsoft Plans To Bring Xbox Age Verification To Countries Outside Of The Uk

Microsoft is implementing an property verification strategy connected Xbox accounts to comply pinch nan UK's Online Safety Act, and successful a caller blog post announcing nan move, nan institution suggests it'll travel to different countries, too.

Players successful nan UK who bespeak connected their relationship that they're 18 years aliases older will now "begin seeing notifications encouraging them to verify their age," Microsoft says. The process is optional for now, and players will beryllium capable to bask playing Xbox games until "early 2026," erstwhile verification will go mandatory to "retain afloat entree to societal features connected Xbox, specified arsenic sound aliases matter connection and crippled invites." If you don't verify, you'll still beryllium capable to make purchases, play games and gain achievements, but societal features will beryllium constricted to your friends.

Microsoft says its hopes to study from its UK program, and "roll retired property verification processes to much regions successful nan future." The institution cautions that nan type it introduces successful different regions mightiness look different than nan "proof of government-issued ID, property estimation, mobile supplier cheque and in installments paper check" options it's offering successful nan UK, but property verification will beryllium nan norm.

The UK's Online Safety Act was signed successful to rule successful 2023 to prohibition nonconsensual deepfake porn and create rules preventing children from being exposed to big content. As regulators person defined ways companies tin comply pinch nan law, implementing an property verification strategy has go nan solution astir platforms that big adult contented person settled on. That's why Microsoft, Bluesky, Reddit, Discord and others person announced age-verification programs successful nan past fewer months.

The problem is, nary property verification strategy is foolproof, and successful immoderate cases each they return is simply a photograph to circumvent. The Verge reports you tin fool Reddit's property gross pinch nan photograph mode successful Death Stranding 2: On nan Beach, for example. Using a VPN has besides proven to beryllium a measurement to get astir property verification tools. If companies return Microsoft's attack and present property verification successful much regions, it mightiness get harder to avoid, but wide take has privacy and information implications of its own.