The UK is gradually implementing new regulations that require all online platforms that provide content that is not suitable for children to implement age verification mechanisms, and Steam has also begun to build a system that complies with these regulations.The UK government has passed the UK Online Safety Act, and although the bill has not yet come into effect, Steam's approach to compliance is expected to be followed by other platforms.
Steam released a FAQ detailing the requirements of the UK Online Security Act and how the age verification mechanism is implemented on its platform.At present, the verification process is relatively simple: users need to provide credit cards to confirm their age and identity.If credit card information is retained in the user's account, verification will be completed without additional operations; after the verification is passed, the user will not be restricted by the system.On the contrary, if verification is not completed, Steam will restrict the account usage permissions, prohibiting users from viewing any content that requires age thresholds.
While implementing these new policies and verification systems, Steam promises to ensure user data and privacy security, as detailed as follows:
Among all age confirmation mechanisms Valve has evaluated, this current process can maximize user privacy.
The data processed during the verification process is exactly the same as the data provided by millions of Steam users who are convenient for shopping or storing payment information.Therefore, this verification process will not disclose any information about user content preferences to payment service providers or other third parties.
Valve will complete the verification process through an independent internal payment processing system developed by itself, which has passed the independent certification of PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard).
With the UK Online Security Act coming into effect soon, other mainstream platforms seem to follow up on similar measures one after another.In fact, platforms such as Xbox have launched similar age verification mechanisms.
