Steam now requiring age verification in the UK

The people say it's ok they will delete any image used for age verification and I'm like yeah sure they will also if they copy the image but delete the original they still fulfilled their end. ;)

Also I get the safety checks though I question given what been going on the last few years its seems that safety was the last thing on their minds esp when it comes to facebook,ig, snapchat, tiktok, youtube, meta etc...
 
We all know it's nothing to do with safety.

Same line was trotted out for the snoopers charter. Think of the children, it's for safety blah blah. Didn't go through until the MPs were opted out from having their internet logged. The same people that are constantly involved in scandals and constantly turning out to be sexpests get an opt out :cry:
 
Armadillo said:
I can fault them for it. Email based age verification estimation is an example of "robust" age verification that Ofcom give. Emails can just as easily change hands over the years, arguably that's more likely as it's not attached to a specific thing (give away Steam account, games go with it, give away an email you no longer use, nothing) and yet that is perfectly fine to estimate age with. If that's fine, there is no reason account age shouldn't be fine as well. Other sites are also using account age to estimate as well. It's a non-exhaustive list given, so unless Ofcom are lying & it's only stuff on the list, it just has to be robust. Account age is just as robust as email age.

Passing accounts is also against the TOS, so officially it shouldn't be happening. If we want to talk about people doing things they should not, then all the age verification falls down the same way (X id doesn't prove it's that person using it).
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Is anyone using just email to pass the new online safety shenanigan checks? If so then yes I agree it's no different than the Steam account ownership thing necessarily.

Steam validation is better than what I'm seeing from most other places though, where Microsoft wants a full id check, and places like Reddit want you to take pictures or upload id.

Not calling it perfect mind you, I hate this new online safety check and how it's implemented, and I think it will just be looked back on as an annoyance most people can work around anyway.
 
HungryHippos said:
Is anyone using just email to pass the new online safety shenanigan checks? If so then yes I agree it's no different than the Steam account ownership thing necessarily.
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Pornhub does via allpasstrust.

You don't even need to own it, you get verification link that you have to click, so it can also just be "chuck your parents email in" and let them click the link if they are fine with it. I don't have an issue with that specifically as it's down to the parents, but if that's considered "robust" by ofcom, there is no reason account age shouldn't be as well.
 
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The thing that makes me laugh is that my account turns 21 in November and yet I still need to verify my age with a CC.
 
It's crazy that there is an increasing requirement to get a credit card. I love the way the government always fails to come up with something that is entirely acceptable. The number one priority should have been a really good way to prove your age without requiring something that some people can't get.

Anyway, I have capitulated. I have a credit card in the post. Credit cards are required for buying blades online, and as a tooley, I've really found that inconvenient. And I can see at some stage or other it's going to be required. There's no point in complaining, Age Verification is a done deal.
 
This is so annoying - I'm 68 and haven't had (or needed) a credit card for the last 22 years but now, with all this age nonsense popping up all over the place I've just applied for one. I realize I don't actually require one yet for Steam but it's only a matter of time before they make it mandatory for all 18 certified games and not just the smutty stuff.
 
rids57 said:
This is so annoying - I'm 68 and haven't had (or needed) a credit card for the last 22 years but now, with all this age nonsense popping up all over the place I've just applied for one. I realize I don't actually require one yet for Steam but it's only a matter of time before they make it mandatory for all 18 certified games and not just the smutty stuff.
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Yep. Better to be prepared than locked out of daily dose of Borderlands 4.
 
rids57 said:
This is so annoying - I'm 68 and haven't had (or needed) a credit card for the last 22 years but now, with all this age nonsense popping up all over the place I've just applied for one. I realize I don't actually require one yet for Steam but it's only a matter of time before they make it mandatory for all 18 certified games and not just the smutty stuff.
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Cut-me-own-throat Dibbler is selling some cards cheaply, so I hear.
The Patrician though might have something to say about that..!
 
rids57 said:
This is so annoying - I'm 68 and haven't had (or needed) a credit card for the last 22 years but now, with all this age nonsense popping up all over the place I've just applied for one. I realize I don't actually require one yet for Steam but it's only a matter of time before they make it mandatory for all 18 certified games and not just the smutty stuff.
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I just read some sad posts on steam forum that 2 users had applied for credit card after stupid steam age verification went live but their bank or credit card lender informed them their application was declined because they has bad or poor credit score history.

So that is shocked and unthinkable absolutely worst nightmare! Imagine people in UK with bad or poor credit score cant buy or pre-order 18+ rated steam games like Borderlands 4, 007 First Light etc.

I wondered how many people in UK has poor credit history or had credit application declined?

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20.2 million people in UK has poor credit history.


Over 9 million people in UK had credit application declined.

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jcb33 said:
The thing that makes me laugh is that my account turns 21 in November and yet I still need to verify my age with a CC.
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Yes well, otherwise people would just be selling old steam accounts aye, I think I've got 3 steam accounts that are super old, they'd be valuable to sell to a child looking to circumvent the credit card requirements
 
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adidan said:
And that was your choice for your kid as a parent.
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I am not sure where I stand on the whole age proving thing... it's got more holes in it than a hookers fishnets and it's a pain (I don't keep my payment details stored on steam) .. but I can see why they are doing it. kids are exposed to far more dodgy things now than when I was a kid so it makes sense to try to limit it .

regardless of what you choose to do for your child does not stop companies duty of care to try to protect children even from bad parents or ones ignorant of some of the content now on steam..
(I am not suggesting anyone here is a bad parent).
Some parents really do not give 2 figs about their kids and what they are exposed to , it doesn't mean that companies should not at least try to protect them.

proof of age is far better than blanket censorship which is the other way things could go, I don't want us to get like Germany and other countries where even fairly mild.adult rated games get things like blood cut out.
 
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Grim5 said:
Yes well, otherwise people would just be selling old steam accounts aye, I think I've got 3 steam accounts that are super old, they'd be valuable to sell to a child looking to circumvent the credit card requirements
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Same goes for Email accounts. Email accounts can be sold or change hands, but email age estimation is an example of "robust" age verification, so says Ofcom.

Nexus mods and Newgrounds both use account age as an age estimator and haven't been bonked by Ofcom for it, no reason Steam couldn't do the same.

bigmike20vt said:
I am not sure where I stand on the whole age proving thing... it's got more holes in it than a hookers fishnets and it's a pain (I don't keep my payment details stored on steam) .. but I can see why they are doing it. kids are exposed to far more dodgy things now than when I was a kid so it makes sense to try to limit it .

regardless of what you choose to do for your child does not stop companies duty of care to try to protect children even from bad parents or ones ignorant of some of the content now on steam..
(I am not suggesting anyone here is a bad parent).
Some parents really do not give 2 figs about their kids and what they are exposed to , it doesn't mean that companies should not at least try to protect them.

proof of age is far better than blanket censorship which is the other way things could go, I don't want us to get like Germany and other countries where even fairly mild.adult rated games get things like blood cut out.
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Steam was already protecting kids. You can create a family group and block what kids can see, you can go even further than the OSA nonsense and enforce playtime limts as well so they can't sit up playing X game all night. Same for most of what the OSA is doing, it was already handled by various controls available. Adults are going to lose social features on Xbox live unless they hand over ID, once again to "protect kids", social features have been able to be restricted for years with parental controls. Now they are talking about "screen time limits for social media" because of course it was never going to stop at just content, IOS & Android can both already enforce app time limits.

Adults shouldn't be forced to hand over ID and put themselves at risk of data breaches to largely American companies who pinky promise to that they delete everything (while having in their terms they share data with X or Y) because bad parents are bad parents. It's too much.

Semi related, but I do wonder how it will shake out in the coming years. Labour and even the "impartial" BBC have pushed it as a "porn ban". 16 year olds will be able to vote next election, but will be restricted from using social features on Xbox live. I wonder how that will shake out and how popular it will be once more stuff like that comes in and Labour can no longer hide it as just a porn ban and calling you Jimmy Savile if you criticise it.
 
Armadillo said:
16 year olds will be able to vote next election
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No idea if that will happen or not but its a ludicrous idea, so you cant donate blood, hold a driving licence, buy alcohol in a bar, join the armed forces, own land or get a mortgage, have a will, get a credit card, take out a loan, watch an 18 movie, apply for a job with the emergency services, place a bet in a betting shop, get a tattoo, buy fireworks or be deemed responsible enough to serve on a jury....but you can vote to choose who runs the country. Absolutely nuts.
 
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