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Why Is Age Important for Your Child’s Experience?

If your child is trying to access a game or online service and it asks for their age, it’s for a good reason— and we want you to feel confident about why.

We ask for your child’s real age to:

Children at different ages have different needs, interests, and levels of maturity. Knowing your child’s age allows us to help online services adapt the experience, such as setting certain permissions, so they can enjoy the digital world safely, confidently, and in a way that supports healthy growth.

deliver an experience that’s appropriate for their age group

Privacy laws and best practices vary by age and location. Younger children often need stronger protections, such as stricter limits on data collection and more parental involvement. When we know your child’s age, we can help online services apply the right safeguards and give you the right level of visibility to manage and support them online.

ensure they have the right privacy protections and controls

There are global laws that require online services to treat children differently—often requiring age-specific privacy settings, product defaults, and safety measures. Accurate age information helps us and the platforms we support meet these legal requirements while putting your child’s best interests first.

comply with rules and regulations around the world designed to protect children's privacy and safety

Accurate age information helps us protect your child’s data and support more age-appropriate digital experiences. At k-ID, we use a child's age information solely to shape a safer, more suitable experience for them—not to track or identify them.

That’s our commitment to your family.

FAQ & Support

Got questions? We're here to help! Visit our FAQ section for quick answers to common questions, or reach out to our support team for personalized assistance. Whether you're setting up your account, managing your child's online experience, or just need some guidance, we've got you covered.

1. How does k-ID work?

When a player uses a game or service that includes k-ID, they will pass us the player location (typically inferred from IP address) and their age (either self-reported or obtained by trusted third parties), along with a session ID. Depending on the legal requirements where the player lives, we may involve that player’s trusted adult to provide consent on behalf of their child.

As part of the parental consent process and where required by local law, we or our service providers might also need to collect proof of a trusted adult's identity. Trusted adults typically have multiple options regarding how to provide this information. Either way, k-ID doesn’t store the information used to validate ages or trusted adult status: all we store from that process is the result of the check.

Within Family Connect by k-ID, trusted adults have the ability to add members of their family, see and manage access to experiences and configure game permissions. These personal preferences are used to communicate with our developer partners and customize the experiences for kids and teen players accordingly.

2. How does k-ID keep my family's information safe?

Privacy and safety are our top priorities. Designed with your family’s protection in mind, we ensure that sensitive information such as credit/debit card details, ID numbers, and images provided during the adult verification process are never stored. This data is used solely to confirm you are an adult and is immediately deleted afterwards.

k-ID meets or exceeds legal standards for privacy and data protection around the world. Our data processing activities have been audited and certified by both the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) Privacy Certified Program and the UK Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS).

For more details on how we collect, use, and protect your personal information, please check our Privacy Policy.

3. Why am I being asked to give parental approval?

We need your permission because privacy laws require parental consent for children to access online games or services that collect personal information. If you were looped in by your child, it means we need to obtain your consent before your child is able to access some or all of the game’s content.

Disabled features may include:

  • Voice chat or free text chat with other players
  • Purchasing certain in-game items with real money
  • Receiving personalized recommendations and/or targeted advertisement
  • Receiving marketing emails or push notifications

The email you received contains a link to a web process where you can provide consent and set up permissions for your child. Depending on the applicable law, you may also be asked to provide additional information to verify you are an adult.

If you do not provide permission, your child may still be able to access some content in the game, such as offline content, but they will not have access to other restricted features.

4. Why do you need my personal information to verify that I am an adult?

We need your personal information to comply with privacy laws that require us to verify that the person providing parental consent is indeed an adult (and not just a child pretending to be their parent). This is to ensure that only authorized adults can give permission for their child to access services that collect personal information.

Depending on the country your child is in, we offer several methods to verify your adult status. The specific methods available to you are determined by applicable law and the game or digital experience your child wishes to access.

We do not save any of the personal information entered for verification purposes; only the result of the verification.

5. Will you need to collect my personal information more than once to verify me?

Once you are verified as a trusted adult, your verification is recognized across all games and services that use k-ID technology. This means you will most likely only need to provide your verification details once. This allows you to easily manage any requests for your child to access various digital experiences and reduces the hassle and privacy risk of verifying yourself for every game or online experience your child accesses.

However, you may need to verify yourself again in some rare cases, such as if you move to a different jurisdiction that requires a different verification method than the one you have previously verified with.

6. Do you save my personal information when you verify that I am an adult?

No. k-ID uses third party data verification services and does not retain any of the sensitive information you provide during the parental verification process. This includes credit or debit card details, national ID numbers, and face scans. These details are used solely for the purpose of verifying your status as an adult, ensuring that we comply with legal requirements for protecting children online.

7. Will I be charged when I use my credit card to verify that I am an adult?

When you verify your age using a payment card on k-ID, a small, temporary charge of less than USD$0.50 may appear in some jurisdictions like the US. This is just to confirm that the card is active, and it will be automatically refunded within 7–14 business days.

8. What is parental consent?

Parental Consent (also known as Verifiable Parental Consent in the US) is a legal requirement that ensures a trusted adult approves a child’s access to online services that collect personal information. This consent helps protect children's privacy and complies with various privacy laws, such as the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in the United States and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union.

When a child under the age of digital consent creates an account or uses an online service, the service provider must obtain permission from a trusted adult. This process may involve verifying that the person giving consent is indeed an adult.

By providing Parental Consent, you allow your child to access and use specific features and services that would otherwise be restricted. This consent also allows you to manage and monitor your child's online activities through various parental controls.