British Spotify subscribers are threatening mutiny over a particularly dystopian requirement by the British government, and Spotify’s caught in the crosshairs.
To bring itself into compliance with the British government’s Online Safety Act, which requires digital companies to verify users’ ages before allowing them to access “adult” content, Spotify has introduced facial scans to its user base in the UK.
They’ve partnered with Yoti, a firm that specializes in software using AI to determine someone’s age based on a visual scan of their face. And yeah, it’s creepy.
The machines are looking at you, again
“You may be presented with an age check when you try to access certain age-restricted content, like music videos tagged 18+,” reads a page by Spotify aimed at the international market.
People are referring to it as facial recognition, like the kind on your iPhone’s Face ID, but it’s not facial recognition; instead, it’s facial estimation. The software is only estimating your age based on your facial features, not matching your face to your identity from some database.
“We only use your photo to estimate your age, and it is encrypted to help keep it secure,” Spotify says. “After the age check is complete, Yoti will delete all users’ data. Spotify will use the results of the process to improve our ability to provide an age-appropriate experience to all of our users.”
If Yoti thinks you’re too young but you aren’t, you can correct it with an ID verification. I still think it’s bulls**t. There are many people who appear younger than their actual ages, especially those on the cusp of their 18th birthdays.
And what’s with “Spotify will use the results of the process to improve our ability…”? I’m skeeved out by that, and frankly, you should be, too. Many aspects of life in the 21st century have an aftertaste of Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Still, a music program scanning your face before you can access it, even just the “adult” content (and who are they to judge what’s adult?), is just too dystopian and creepy.
The post Spotify Requiring Face Scans To Access Explicit Content in the UK appeared first on VICE.
