The US Federal Trade Commission has rejected plans to implement a privacy-protective facial age estimation technology that would have analyzed the geometry of a user’s face to determine their age. The application for this technology was submitted last July by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), UK-based identity software firm Yoti, and youth marketing company SuperAwesome.
The purpose of this technology was to enforce the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA), which requires parental consent for online services likely to engage users under the age of 13. However, the FTC’s decision to deny the application was unanimous, but without prejudice, meaning that it could be resubmitted in the future.
The FTC did not make a ruling on the merits of the technology. Instead, they clarified that the technology was meant for use by adults seeking to provide parental permissions, not by children themselves. The technology did not involve taking or storing selfies of users or trying to identify users.
The ESRB and its partners have not indicated when or if they will resubmit the technology for review in the future.
