Epic Games subsidiary SuperAwesome and digital identity company Yoti have announced a new partnership to help keep young gamers safe.
SuperAwesome provides tools for safer, more responsible digital engagement with younger audiences. Through the partnership, it will integrate Yoti’s facial age estimation into SuperAwesome’s Kids Web Services (KWS) parent verification tool.
KWS allows developers to verify the identity of parents or guardians when granting their children permission to use features which collect personal information through a process called Verifiable Parental Consent (VPC). This is usually done by checking a credit card transaction, social security number, or reviewing identity documents. However, with the evolution of safety standards and their related legislation, SuperAwesome has expanded its verification methods to provide more options.
The importance of safety
Yoti’s facial age estimation allows people to prove they’re over a certain age without sharing sensitive information by estimating the age of the user via a selfie, deleting the image immediately after the estimation with no personal information stored on the system. Afterwards, the parent or guardian can review the settings and features for each individual app before deciding whether or not to grant permission for their children to access the service.
“We are proud to work with SuperAwesome to improve online safety for children and give parents a private way to prove their age,” said Yoti’s director of regulatory and policy Julie Dawson. “By integrating Yoti, people can just share the fact that they are an adult, without sharing any other personal information. This data minimised approach protects the privacy of individuals, gives businesses confidence that someone is over the correct age to provide parental consent, and allows platforms to deliver age-appropriate content and experiences.”
“SuperAwesome is excited to be working with Yoti to provide parents with a safe and trusted way to prove their age during the parent verification process. Given not everyone owns or has access to an ID or credit card, Yoti makes KWS more inclusive. In the time since integrating Yoti into KWS, over 60% of parents are choosing facial age estimation in the countries where it is available,” said SuperAwesome chief strategy officer Paul Nunn.
In other Epic news, earlier this week Apple emerged victorious in an antitrust appeal against Epic Games, albeit with the significant caveat that it should make it easier for developers to sidestep App Store fees.