Of course the hue-and-cry has started already over in the comments on Identity Verification Comes to Second Life « Official Linden Blog. As an estate owner, I’m in the potential beta-tester pool, so I went ahead and tried it out. On the “My Account” page on secondlife.com, there was a new menu choice over on the right for age verification. It took me to a very simple form that asked for my name, address, and either my driver’s license number or the last 4 digits of my Social Security Number.
Although I provide those SSN digits when required to, I never use them voluntarily, and of course, the SSN is not supposed to be used for identification purposes. [ha!] So I gave them my driver’s license number, clicked “verify,” and within moments got a reply that I had been verified, along with a request to take a survey on my experience. Which I did, it taking me to a one-page surveymonkey survey.
See? Nothing so scary.Giving LL payment information should be of much higher concern, should one be nervous about such things.
Oh good! I was wondering how difficult that would be. And, yes, payment information should be much more concerning.
I always am bothered by the use of the SSN for ID purposes. I would love to see someone bring a lawsuit about the use of it for ID purposes since it is used almost universally.
ID verification … I have difficulty believing this will reveal quite a number of alts that are meant to be separate…
Oh, you guys!