Age verification arrives on the Second Life grid (updated)

Age verification is now in beta on the Second Life grid. We think it's called Age Verification, anyway. It's undergone a couple name changes since inception. Initially, Linden Lab were calling it Age Verification, then Identity Verification (IDV) and now we're back to Age Verification again.

We're not really very sure if it is going to change its name again. There are a few things, though, that we do know ...

1. Age Verification isn't so much about verifying your age/identity. The company that is operating the service (Aristotle/Integrity) provides a number of identity-related services, but in this case, it appears that the function they're providing is professional insurance against lawsuits. The verification step appears to simply be one of the prerequisites to that insurance. Fundamentally, probably nobody at the business end cares if your information is true or false or belongs to you. Once you enter it, asses are covered.

2. Verification is indeed optional. The only reason you'd need to be verified is if you want to access a restricted parcel/estate.

3. Restricting parcels/estates is optional. According to Robin Harper at Linden Lab, during the open-ended beta phase there's no requirement for you to flag land or estates as restricted. This is a reversal from the restricting-parcels/estates-is-mandatory position, but makes sense considering that this is a live beta. At the end of the beta phase, we expect restriction of parcels/estates with mature content to become mandatory again.

4. Aristotle/Integrity (the verification provider) doesn't store your data - that's so. They claim to already have all your ID numbers (passports, drivers licenses, SSNs and so forth), name and address already. Your data is matched against what they already have on file.

5. Linden Lab isn't storing the data either - it gets sent straight on to Aristotle/Integrity who send back a pass or a fail, which is the only bit Linden Lab really needs or uses.

6. Verification verifies the data you feed it - not the person providing it. The only link between that information and you is a checkbox at the bottom of the form that reads "The information that I am providing is true and correct, and I consent to its verification against public records or government-issued identification."

7. Aristotle/Integrity may not have your information. I'm Australian, and they appear to have neither my passport or my driver's license on file - so I guess, tough ... I'm out of luck unless I use a third-party's credentials to verify with. So I'm left with two options: Don't verify, or lie.

Update: A colleague of mine (in Australia) from another news outlet just provided his details, but with a false date-of-birth, and got immediate verification. I'd say that Aristotle/Integrity's database is far from complete. It seems to be missing data (eg: Mine) and does not contain complete and accurate information for the types of ID which it does have.