Florida is subpoenaing the creators of the popular gaming app Roblox to find out how adult predators gained access to children and teens who are using the platform. AFN has reported previously on the actions of Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has taken against the game.
Now, Roblox CEO David Baszucki told “Fox & Friends” that they are going to use AI and facial recognition to verify the user's age.
“Knowing the age of every person on our platform, we're going to do this using AI on the selfie camera to estimate the age of everyone,” stated Baszucki.
The host of the segment, Ainsely Earhardt, made the comment hundreds of parents were shouting into their TV's at the time.
“I don't want my daughter sending your app her picture. I don't want her taking a selfie so that you can verify her age. I just don't — I don't want that shared with anybody,” said Earhardt.
Baszucki promised to protect the privacy of the users and never share any selfies.
However, Dr. Alex McFarland of Truth for a New Generation says that one just can't be sure.
“Attributes and identity of game users are stored in databases who-knows-where to be used in who-knows-what ways. Just when you think technology can't get any more invasive than it already is, programmers rise to the challenge,” says McFarland.
McFarland says the first line of defense, of course, is to monitor kids and their screen time, but that's been the advice given since the advent of cell phones. He says that maybe it's time for a new tactic.
“I think the best-case scenario is that we try as much as possible to raise children that are not just slaves to a screen,” says McFarland.
