Steam will comply with the UK’s age verification rules without sending any of your data to third-parties — doing a better job than Xbox

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In the United Kingdom, the Online Safety Bill has become law. This means that many everyday online services may now need age verification before granting access to certain or all of their content. The aim is to protect children by preventing them from viewing content that is not suitable for their age.

As I observe, gaming landscapes like Xbox and Steam are incorporated, each adapting to the recent legal changes. Intriguingly, Steam’s proprietor, Valve, has articulated a thoughtful and non-contentious strategy for compliance (as reported by GamingOnLinux).

Here’s the breakdown from the official notice on the Steam Support page:

To view mature content games and their corresponding community hubs on Steam, you need to have an active account and explicitly give your approval through the account settings section. For users in the United Kingdom, this approval process involves verifying your age. Your UK Steam account will remain verified as long as a valid credit card is kept on file.

Criticism has arisen regarding age verification laws, not primarily due to the process of confirming one’s adulthood itself, but often due to concerns about the methods employed for this purpose.

Valve is engaging in typical activities, without involving the disclosure of confidential data to external parties, and without requiring biometric scans or suchlike.

The system will confirm the validity of your credit card by performing a temporary, no-cost transaction. Since you need to be at least 18 years old to own a credit card, this method should work just fine. Notably, it utilizes Steam’s existing payment system that many users already have their gaming cards linked with.

It’s unclear how you might prove your age without using a credit card, as the process supposedly involves minimizing data usage. I’m curious if a Visa debit card linked to your banking account could potentially be used instead.

The company, Valve, explains that this approach aims to maintain maximum user privacy despite fulfilling the mandatory requirements set by UK law. Although it might not be our preferred choice, it seems to be the current best option for complying with these regulations.

Instead of Xbox, for example, which utilizes a similar approach yet emphasizes a distinct product, I, alongside other British consumers, have lately been informed via email about the necessity of verifying our age.

In the image provided, it’s clear that Microsoft (Xbox) is working with Yoti, a third-party service, for age verification purposes. Alternatively, there are other approaches such as credit card scrutiny similar to Valve’s process, or contacting your cellular service provider for verification.

I’m comfortable with either of the final two options, but they are somewhat hard to find, and they continue to rely on Yoti, rather than Microsoft’s internal systems. Upon loading the page, I couldn’t initially spot the bottom two choices; it was only when I noticed the top text bolded “4 options” that I decided to look more carefully.

This is the exact text from the email:

Beginning next year, we are collaborating with Yoti, a reliable third-party identity verifier, to offer multiple secure methods for age confirmation. This will be necessary to maintain full access to social aspects on Xbox, including voice and text chats, as well as game invitations. Until the verification process is completed, your access to these features will initially be restricted to your friends only.

Upon opening the page, you are abruptly instructed to either scan your face or provide your ID. This is requested by a company with which you have no prior relationship and about whose specific use of this information, you are entirely unaware.

In simpler terms, I chose to go with the phone service provider since my number is already linked to my Microsoft Account. I strongly recommend you do the same or opt for the credit card verification process. However, both methods are processed through Yoti. But I found this particular method to be less intrusive compared to others.

Here are two possibilities we’re considering, similar to how Valve handles things. However, it’s disheartening that Microsoft seems to be advocating for a system where personal information will be shared with an unknown company. I find this concerning.

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2025-08-30 11:39