User
Domino/Age Verification Q&A
From Dogcraft Wiki
Curated FAQ questions
This section includes answers to a set of questions that frequently came up. Answers were compiled from responses by the staff staff team and GamerSafer reps.
Why are we doing this?
Ren requested we introduce an age verification measure to provide him peace of mind beyond reasonable doubt that the implementation of our 18+ minimum age rule would be effective.
The server being public and free to play opens it up to a lot of potential for harm to happen. The unfortunate reality is that running a server is a very dangerous world as it provides a vector for serious harm to come to players if something goes wrong. We believe in our Moderation team and community, but we've had to introduce this extra step to both provide peace of mind to Rendog and reduce the risk of exposure that vector provides.[1][2]
How does this protect Dogcraftâs players?
Our objective here is a system that can carry out player age verification accurately, so we can trust that our user base is of the minimum age to play on our server, giving Ren peace of mind, which is integral here. It's a difficult one to understand, and we get that. From Ren's perspective, it's been a case that a risk assessment needed to be made to continue running a Minecraft server. If anything were to happen on the server, it would directly affect Renâs main source of income and livelihood and by making an effort to enforce the 18+ minimum age, we greatly reduce the risk of that happening.
Is this necessary or just an attempt to get on the official Minecraft server list?
Rendog requested we introduce an age verification measure to provide peace of mind beyond reasonable doubt that the implementation of our 18+ minimum age rule would be effective. We have no interest and gain limited benefit from unlocking a badge on the FindMCServer website.What about my privacy?
This page goes into more details regarding privacy related questions, but if you want the gist of it, this answer is that.
Why wasn't this announced sooner?
This question is very important for transparency right now, but a couple months after the world launches, it will likely be moved onto a different page for permanent residence.
We wanted to make sure we got this implementation right, and have spent the past two months investigating in great depth various measures we could use to implement the task given to us by Ren (being to implement a verification system). We wanted to be specific, and detailed in our communication with this - rather than announce inaccurate information early-on.
Several boxes of questions here (check the google doc for the order - its deliberately ordered and structured)
Question: Why GamerSafer? Were alternatives considered? đ§
Question: Will an alternative method of age verification be provided for those that don't want to share their face? đ§
Question: How can I delete my data from GamerSafer? Does deleting my GamerSafer account impact how I can play on Dogcraft? đ§
Question: How does the system work? How does GamerSafer know I'm 18? đ§
Question: Does the GamerSafer age verification system use AI? đ§
Who can see the information we submit when creating a GamerSafer account?
The only thing Dogcraft receives from GamerSafer is an age rating (âchildâ, âteenâ, âadultâ) and a confidence level in that rating (âlowâ, âmediumâ, âhighâ) and a unique âGuild IDâ generated by GamerSafer specifically for Dogcraftâs use. We canât see your GamerSafer account name. Other servers using GamerSafer canât see that youâve used it for Dogcraft.
We donât get access to anything else, not your photo, or your biometric data, or any of the information you submit upon GamerSafer account creation.
GamerSafer doesnât get your Minecraft/Mojang/Microsoft account through Dogcraft age verification. You're connecting your Dogcraft and GamerSafer accounts, not your Minecraft and GamerSafer accounts. What else your Dogcraft account is connected to is not shared with GamerSafer. (So in addition to Minecraft accounts, they also donât know if you have a connected Discord or Patreon, we donât share any of that data)
Question: What's stopping someone under 18 from asking a parent/sibling/friend/etc. from verifying for them?
Will staff and Rendog be required to complete age verification as well?
Does the GamerSafer step apply to the private diamond and emerald Patreon server?
How can I complete age verification if I don't have a smart device?
Does Dogcraft pay for GamerSafer?
Community questions
This section includes direct questions submitted by community members. Some of them from a part of the curated FAQ above too, while some are more specific to a person's use cases. Answers here are from the dogcraft staff team.
Submit questions: https://forms.gle/C5qWqrAxAeXZBzT78
Q: How do I ensure this company deletes my data after the verification as I do not consent to them keeping my biometric data.
A: You can delete your GamerSafer account, after which point GamerSafer are legally obligated to delete your data. For instructions on how to delete your GamerSafer account, please check their website.
Q: Can the software really see through extreme cases of baby face, as I've gotten tangled up with software like that before.
A: The software is robust and able to account for baby faces. Part of the check involves comparing against your Date of Birth and the software is lenient enough that we do not believe this to be an issue.
Q: Were alternatives considered? Uploading a picture of your face seems pretty nuclear in terms of online safety (as in, there are very few people I would send a picture of my face to. The act itself feels unsafe).
A: Several alternatives were considered and explored in-depth over several months, including measures as drastic as restricting the server behind a paywall. We believe this to be the most accessible measure that we can introduce that meet's Rendog's requirements and provides us with assurance, beyond reasonable doubt, that our player base does not contain any users under the age of 18.
Q: if you do not have a smart device how will that work for the scan. is it possible just to verify ages to mods instead?
A: Indeed, Age Verification requires an iOS or Android smart device. We recommend asking to borrow a friend's smart device to do this. Thank you for your understanding; while we anticipate most users will have a device to complete verification on we do of course appreciate that for those that do not, this is a bit of a hassle.
Q: Is this actually necessary or just an attempt to get on the official Minecraft server list that was recently announced?
A: Rendog requested we introduced an age verification measure to provide peace of mind beyond reasonable doubt that the implementation of our 18+ minimum age rule would be effective. We have no interest and gain limited benefit from unlocking a badge on the FindMCServer website. After extensive research and work, we settled on partnering with GamerSafer to implement this.
Q: Will there be any alternative way of age verification for people unable to access a smart device and/or uncomfortable with sharing any kind of information with a third party company?
A: All users will be required to complete GamerSafer age verification. Unfortunately, we do not have the capacity to verify users ages due to the huge logistical and security overheads associated with processing data in such quantities. We apologize and appreciate your understanding. We vouch for GamerSafer's reputability and professionalism in helping us deliver this new measure.
Q: How does an age verification that allegedly does not retain identifying information prevent bad faith actors from accessing Dogcraft? Not every adult, confirmed or otherwise, is acting in good faith and this also seems like it assumes bad faith as default.
A: There is no silver bullet to preventing any and all bad actors from accessing our community. We do believe, however, that this measure reduces the risk of a bad actor using our server as a vector to cause harm to minors; a risk which is of significant (and understandable) concern to Rendog. We believe that introducing this measure will, beyond reasonable doubt, alleviate the risk of a child coming into harms way while on our server.
Q: I don't understand how this protects Dogcraft's players. This seems like asking actual 18+ players to breach their privacy and transmit highly personal data to a third party company to protect hypothetical children/prevent them from joining a server that has clearly been designated as adult only, which a child should not go near in the first place. Any child acting in bad faith will always find ways around an age verification, and being an adult does not prevent someone from being a bad faith actor. Can you clarify how this helps the community?
A: The honest objective with introducing this measure is not for the direct benefit of the community so much as it is for the benefit of providing Ren peace of mind that minors are not able to access and play on our server and potentially come into harms way. The reality is that the risks of children coming into harms way interacting with strangers are far greater than they were when Dogcraft first opened its doors.
The "beyond reasonable doubt" part of this is the key, really; while it's true individuals who want to can find ways around systems, we think this system is robust enough to provide us with the assurance that our users are not underage. We of course respect that this does place an additional data burden on our users; it's our hope that we can try and alleviate specific concerns with how your data is processed where possible and give you the information needed so you can make an informed choice about completing this process.
Q: The GamerSafer privacy policy states that the proper way to ensure they stop using your data is to delete your account. If I verify, and then delete my account later, will I lose access to the server?
A: You will not lose access to the server. Verification is a one-time affair, and deleting the app/your GamerSafer account after carrying out the verification process is fine. Note of course that you must keep your Dogcraft if you wish to continue playing on the server; if you choose to delete it (thereby unlinking it from your Minecraft account), you will need to re-create it and re-complete the GamerSafer linking step.
Q: I'm getting error message on the app while trying to take the verification image and have tried different areas of light, still getting the same issue. I am logged in with the correct username.
A: If you're encountering errors with setting up your GamerSafer account or using the GamerSafer app, we specifically recommend getting in touch with GamerSafer's support directly.
Users can do this by emailing them at [email protected] or creating a support ticket in their Discord: https://gamersafer.com/discord
Q: How much did GamerSafer cost to install, what does the partnership entail, and how was it chosen over other verification alternatives?
A: Dogcraft pays GamerSafer a standard monthly fee (which we are unable to disclose at this time; though you may be able to extrapolate based on their public pricing website); our partnership simply entails paying GamerSafer in return for their service and beyond working with them for help integrating our account system with their API, there is no further nuance to our business.
Our assignment from Rendog was to implement an age verification system to the server. We explored a variety of options. One option was using an 18+ Patreon page (which did not work, as this required a paywall and setting Ren's Patreon as though it were a Triple-X rated material supplier). Another option was Jumilo, or another government-ID style checker; these proved far too expensive and out of scope for what we are (a Minecraft Server).
We considered further, more abstract options too (such as ideas surrounding linking to other services' accounts which have verification flows in them; all failed to pan out for a variety of reasons and were increasingly obtuse for end-users). GamerSafer emerged as the only viable option after excluding everything else. They provide a system that doesn't just work but is designed from the ground up for Minecraft servers of our caliber for age verification. Furthermore, they are officially endorsed by Mojang as the operators of the FindMCServerList website. This aligned both with what we could do, our budget, and legal obligations in terms of the data we would have to handle."
Q: Is this all really necessary? I feel as if this will eventually ruin the community aspect of the server we all hold so dear as there will hardly be a community left, With making it 18+ and requiring the rest of the members to forcefully give their bio credentials over to a third party app or they just can't play on the server. There was not much of a threat to our community minors, And if there was I am sure the staff would handle swift and fast. I feel as if it would be easier to implement rules instead of cutting off well over 85% of the player base.
I just fear for the future of the server.
A: From our response to an earlier question: Rendog requested we introduced an age verification measure to provide peace of mind beyond reasonable doubt that the implementation of our 18+ minimum age rule would be effective. We have no interest and gain limited benefit from unlocking a badge on the FindMCServer website. After extensive research and work, we settled on partnering with GamerSafer to implement this.
We completely understand the concern that this will lead to a decline in the server's population. A desire to increase promotional activities to seek to offset this, both through Rendog's and otherwise, has been expressed and we are confident in the health of our community; we do not believe that this change will result in such a drastic decline in player interest, but are respectful of those who make an informed decision to not continue playing as a result of these changes.
Q: Could you clarify insofar this measure has been put into place to satisfy a legal requirement, whether in terms of server owner liability or in terms of laws regulating online services? As in, has the Dogcraft team/Rendog sought legal advice and been told that some type of age verification for a public and international MC server - even one already labelled adult only - is legally required?
A: "To be clear, no new legal requirement has come in place that has mandated this change; the addition of age verification was a specific request from Rendog that has been put in place as a result of long-term changes to the Internet in a more broad sense, and the ever-increasing risk that a child comes into harms way while using Dogcraft.
Ren remains liable should something terrible happen to a child playing on Dogcraft, and the implementation of an age verification system was deemed necessary as part of the risk assessment carried out by Rendog. Dogcraft has not sought legal advice, though part has involved consulting with various stakeholders, including volunteer individuals with professional experience, as well as GamerSafer representatives."
- â discord messages, by Discord Headmod William.
- â discord message, initial announcement by Rendog (July 14)
