EU Law Would Mandate Age Checks for Online Gamers
New European legislation could force players to submit personal data to access certain games, raising significant privacy concerns.
A new piece of legislation known as the EU Kids Act is set to be presented to the European Parliament on September 17. If approved, this law would mandate that online service providers verify the age of their users before granting access to specific platforms. While the primary goal is to protect minors from harmful content, the practical effect will be a broader requirement for age verification across various digital services, including gaming.
The proposal extends beyond traditional social media to include artificial intelligence tools and online games deemed risky for minors. Documents reviewed by Euractiv indicate that providers must conduct age checks when new accounts are created. This move reflects a growing global trend toward stricter digital age gates, following recent implementations in regions like the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia.
Expanding Scope to Gaming and AI
According to reporting by GN technics/gaming (en-US), the act specifically targets services that pose potential risks to children. This includes not just social networks but also AI chatbots and online gaming platforms. However, the legislation is expected to spare industrial AI applications, office productivity tools, and educational online services from these strict verification requirements. The focus remains on consumer-facing platforms where minors are most likely to encounter inappropriate material or interactions.
This approach mirrors recent regulatory actions in other parts of the world. In the UK and Ireland, PlayStation has already begun rolling out age verification checks for features like voice chat and streaming. In Australia, Steam now requires proof of age for accessing mature-rated titles. These precedents suggest that the EU move is part of a wider international shift toward verifying user identity online.
Privacy Risks and Data Security
The core trade-off of these measures is user privacy. Verifying age often requires submitting sensitive personal data, such as government-issued IDs, facial scans, or credit card details. This creates a significant security risk, as the platforms collecting this data become high-value targets for cybercriminals. The challenge is balancing child safety with the protection of adult users' personal information.
Recent incidents have highlighted the dangers of centralized identity data. Discord, for example, paused its global age verification rollout after hackers accessed its systems and stole images of 70,000 government IDs. This breach underscores the vulnerability inherent in systems that require users to upload sensitive documents. Critics argue that such requirements disproportionately burden older users and create new avenues for data exploitation.
Precedents in Other Markets
Different regions have adopted varying methods for age verification, leading to inconsistent user experiences. In Australia, for instance, Steam requires players to add an Australian credit card to their account to unlock mature content. This method, while effective for verifying age, can be problematic for users who do not have access to a local credit card. Such regional discrepancies highlight the complexity of implementing global standards for digital age gates.
In the United States, there is no single federal law mandating age verification, though individual states have passed their own regulations. This patchwork of laws creates a fragmented landscape for global platforms. The EU’s proposed act aims to create a unified standard within its borders, but the broader global implications remain a subject of intense debate among privacy advocates, child safety groups, and tech companies.
