I just received a press release announcing the Agelock system an alternative to the identity verification system from Linden Labs. They say in their press release that the Aristotle system not only violates their privacy and is too intrusive, but that it actually breaks privacy laws in several countries. AgeLock is supposed to allow residents to take responsibility for their actions, here is how it works.

The way it works

A land holder or content creator sets our scripted unit on their land. As new visitors arrive, they are scanned and checked against our database. If the avatar name is not already in the database, the avatar is addressed by the system with blue pop up windows.

The initial pop up window warns the avatar that there may be adult content in the area and that if they do not wish to, or are not legally permitted to view adult content, they should leave the area. If the avatar selects the option to remain then they will see another blue pop up window requesting that they input their real life date of birth and declare that they are of legal age to view adult content.

This information, avatar name, real life date of birth given, and acknowledgement of responsibility, will be added to our database. Once that is done, the individual will never be asked to go through the process again and will be cleared to access any land that uses the AgeLock system.

So an avatar visits, let’s say the Forum sim for example, they go through the system once, then when they visit another sim, owned by someone else, using this system later, they will not need to go through it again, they will already be in the database.

The ONLY real life information this system requires is the resident’s real life date of birth. More information than that is never needed, as the more important statement is the declaration that the resident is entering the adult area with full awareness and releasing land holders and/or content creators from any liability.

If it is discovered at a later date that a resident has lied about his/her age to bypass the system, it does not matter because it has been established that he/she was properly warned and given every opportunity to leave. It basically negates any “innocent victim” argument. Source: AgeLock

Remember how the Linden Labs announcement started out? We want this for the company we deal with, Linden Labs, they just seem to want the opposite.

Trust is the foundation of any community. And one cornerstone of trust is identity. You’ve got to know something about the person you are dealing with before you can trust them. Knowing who to trust in an online environment presents unique challenges. Traditionally Second Life users have based their trust on relationships built over time, and often on some basic verification such as ‘Payment Info on File’.

They want everyone to trust a third party with our information, but just mention it briefly to start.

Further to Ian Linden’s recent blog post about Grid stability, I’d also like to reassure you that this system has been developed by a third party and has not detracted from essential bug fixing efforts, which we realize are key.

Of course many, many people objected to having to give their info to another organization, especially one like Aristotle, check the quote from this blog post, that shows three different circumstances in which they fail as age verification system, like not actually keeping minors out, selling the info to others and combining info from other sites, lists and cookies.

So, what’s the big deal? It is, after all, public information, although somewhat difficult to obtain. Well, you see, Aristotle combines its voter data with supplemental information purchased from other data vendors. The result is an Orwellian blend of personal profiles that would make the savviest of marketers blush. Data fields include the typical name, age, gender stuff, along with not-so-typical info on car makes and models owned, estimated income, party affiliation and voting history, employer and occupation, home ownership status, and whether or not the individual has an “ethnic surname.” But that’s simply not suitable for the insatiable folks at Aristotle. Now they’re panning for real gold: data that’s been garnered through cookies online.

According the NY Times piece, “In the last year, Microsoft and America Online backed away from proposals by Aristotle to mesh its voter data with information Internet users give to Microsoft and America Online when registering to go online.” Source: You didn’t really think Integrity/Aristotle would be a good company, did you?

Sounds like a company I want to get hold of my data, and I wonder how much they already have? AgeLock is definitely worth checking out as it only needs your birth date, so that is something at least. The sim they have listed has a little both you walk into to try it out, all it asked me was I old enough, I agreed and I had to enter my birth date and then it said I was verified. Now, I realize this in no way guarantees that it will keep children out, but, it does give the owner the benefit because the person had to actually verify they were old enough, this is to protect adults and it goes on to say the protection of the children belongs to the parents. Which I agree with, most things should be difficult for them to do, but I should know what my kids are doing while online.

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