Age Verification Feedback

I would like to suggest removing the option that allows users to hide their Verified 18+ status after completing age verification. I understand the importance of privacy on VRChat, but in this particular case, allowing this information to be hidden undermines one of the main purposes of age verification: giving users, and especially moderators of adult communities, a quick and clear way to identify whether someone has been verified as an adult. The Verified 18+ status does not reveal someone's exact age. It does not tell us whether someone is 18, 25, 35, or 50 years old. It simply confirms that the account has been verified as belonging to an adult. Because of this, I do not see a significant privacy benefit in allowing this specific information to be hidden. At the same time, it creates real difficulties for 18+ communities. Not every moderator uses third-party tools such as VRCX, and communities should not have to depend on external software to check information that is already part of VRChat's official system. Imagine moderating an instance where dozens or even hundreds of users may be joining and leaving. The fastest and most practical way for moderators to identify verified adults is through information displayed directly within VRChat. Allowing users to hide that indicator creates unnecessary ambiguity. There is also the possibility of bad actors intentionally hiding this information to make moderation more difficult, particularly in adult communities that use visible 18+ verification as part of their own safety procedures. This does not mean that everyone who hides the status has bad intentions. The problem is that the option creates uncertainty where there does not need to be any. If someone voluntarily completed age verification and VRChat has confirmed that they are over 18, displaying only the information “Verified 18+” does not expose meaningful personal information beyond the fundamental purpose of the verification itself. For adult communities, keeping this status visible provides several important benefits: * immediate visual identification of verified 18+ users; * less reliance on third-party tools; * faster moderation in busy instances; * fewer ambiguous situations during verification; * greater confidence in VRChat's official Age Verification system; * better tools for communities trying to maintain adults-only spaces. If privacy is the concern, specific age information should obviously remain private. However, the simple binary result of “Verified 18+ / Not Verified 18+” should remain visible. VRChat created an extremely useful system with Age Verification and age-gated instances. I believe the next step should be making that system more consistent. If VRChat has confirmed that an account belongs to someone who is 18+, that confirmation should remain visible and should not be possible to hide. This would make Age Verification significantly more useful for moderators, groups, and adult communities that are actively trying to use VRChat's official tools to keep their spaces safe and properly moderated.

Use a different method or business to age verify. Persona has had multiple data leaks and lies about how they store and use data. They do not delete it they keep it and sell it. They are a safety risk and a moral failing.

They scan your ID against 250+ sources, not to mention keeping a record on you for years after you verify, while having your whole ID and SO many data breaches.

VRChat has determined Persona can be trusted with a photo of your face and government ID. Persona is a VC-backed (arguably "tech bro") San Franciscan tech startup that's only existed since 2018. They operate out of a shared space behind a bar: https://maps.app.goo.gl/t5ebyhr9oTUhupMf9 Their privacy policy says (as I read it) that they explicitly have permission to take your personal information (selfie, photo of your government ID) and store it for years, and can and will send it to "vendors, agents...companies we've hired to provide customer service support..." and to "law enforcement [and] other government agencies." They say they'll use your personal information "to understand you and your preferences to enhance your experience and enjoyment" and for the purposes of "marketing, including to communicate with you about new services, offers, promotions, rewards, contests, upcoming events, and other information about our services and those of our selected partners..." and for "advertising, including display [sic] advertising to you..." Their privacy policy site also uses clickjacking to prevent you from copying the text of their privacy policy: https://withpersona.com/legal/privacy-policy These doesn't seem like the actions of a legitimate and trustworthy company, and there aren't enough guarantees that you won't be literally doxxing yourself. PII is extremely valuable and there's an entire industry of brokers that facilitate the sale and transfer of people's personal information--not to mention the risk of hacking, accidental disclosure, or a new and untrustworthy company being sloppy or reckless. These days AI can train off a photo of your face, and scams and identify fraud are extremely common. Personally, the only times I've had to provide a photo of myself holding an ID are for once-in-a-lifetime financial transactions. Never for a video game or social media. VRChat is willing to take the chance of making this de-facto-mandatory (i.e., the community normalizes it and it results in a greatly degraded experience if you don't comply)? The ask is a severe imposition and an invasion of privacy without adequate concern that the chosen data broker is trustworthy. Even the announcement incorrectly claimed your PII would be handled in accordance to the GDPR, but the company is actually based out of California, where regulations are far less strict, and fines far less burdensome.

https://kotaku.com/discord-palantir-peter-thiel-persona-age-verification-2000668951 Thiel is the majority owner of persona the age verification provider for vrchat and he has been seen in the epstien files. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Thiel Not only that, he has a notorious history of privacy violations and is currently helping ICE agents with the capturing of families and american citizens. I implore the devs to seek a new verification provider as association with somone like that puts the trust users have in vr chat at risk.

Per the updated FAQ for the announcement of Age Verification, I would like to suggest a hard limit of at least 1 or at most 2 alts who are eligible for the same age verification. People may have alts for various reasons, some being that they may not want people who know their main VRC account name (especially if that name exists outside of VRC on other platforms) and may not want to engage with the more hardcore gated content (cough18+STUFFcough) for fear of other users maliciously looking them up and then harassing them on other platforms or even irl. I realize that may be an extreme example, but I can imagine I am not the only one who has their VRC name as their other socials and tries to keep it as professional as possible especially those that are creators. And while you could just say... "Well. Then just verify your alt account." ...and I could just do that, but what if in doing so I lock my main account off from my favorite worlds and or avatars should those world/avatar creators put their creations behind Age Verification gates. I apologize in advance if this was hard to follow, I'm not the best at articulating my words, so I hope this made some sense... I would just greatly appreciate being able to keep my main and an alt with the same amount of access and not feel like I have a baby gate in my way on one or the other despite being a fully grown adult. -_-

The automated system Persona uses fails to identify any form of ID I provide. Despite using every form of ID that’s available to me and trying it under different lighting conditions I get the same result. This system seems to have no way of falling back on some other form of age verification. The extent of customer support I’ve gotten on this subject so far is being told to try again. Are there plans to provide alternative methods of age verification so that people don’t get unfairly excluded through no fault of their own?

https://zkpassport.id/ I came across this and it looks like a non invasive alternative to persona for age verification. According to their website, you scan a passport with your phone, do a liveliness check, then a proof is created that you can use to prove your age. The personal information is processed on your phone, so you don't have to send it, you only have to send the proof. It also doesn't require any 3rd party service, so it would be free to vrchat. It's also open source.

I'm really hoping when age verification is made free for UK users that facial age estimation'll be an option. For context, I can't do mobile phone verification because I don't have a contract phone, I can't do credit card verification because I'm not eligible, and I DEFINITELY ain't doing ID card verification given the multiple leaks that've happened with several age verification providers. Doing a quick face scan using my phone is the only option that seems to have worked for me in the past, and I'm utterly terrified of losing contact with my friend group on VRChat when the laws here in the UK start restricting platforms like VRChat even more.

It will always be worth restating no matter how many times or in how many ways it's said. Privacy isn't just some word bad people hide behind. Trust and safety should apply to all users. I'm not going to presume VRChat's need to perform identity verification as part of their strategy. I'm just throwing my opinion in that the level of data sharing is excessive for the goal of age verification and creating a reasonably safe environment. Laws can change or be broken. Policies can be quietly ignored. People can be put at risk through no fault of their own. I'm of the opinion that platforms like VRChat have a responsibility to implement these systems in a way that maximizes and maintains privacy. VRChat are the ones that want to own the platform after all - rather than letting users self-host or federate. The level of trust that can be put into the 'trust me bro' assurance that PII or other personal data artifacts are handled appropriately is paper thin. VRChat's choice of partner has (rightfully) come into public view on multiple occasions for exactly the wrong reasons. VRChat has become an important social outlet for me. My group has taken to mostly use 18+ instances regardless. So now I become a burden if I'm to be included (not a great feeling). I can only speculate other groups are the same. Meaning verification is all but necessary to even participate and will probably get worse once content gating is in. Making the verification process a matter of coercion rather than purely of consent. I sincerely hope VRChat comes up with a more appropriate solution.