GrownUpsOnline.com Leads Age Verification Safety Initiative For Online Communities

GrownUpsOnline.com Leads Age Verification Safety Initiative For Online Communities

In an effort to avoid the safety problems that popular social networking communities have recently experienced, Group Members International L.L.C. (GMI), a Connecticut based creator of socially responsible online communities, is utilizing a new safety solution that works. As recommended by a group of 34 state attorney generals led by Richard Blumenthal, an Age and Identity Verification system has been integrated into the registration process of the new social networking community, GrownUpsOnline.com. CEO John Monteleone supports Blumenthal’s position that online social networking communities must use Age & Identity Verification to protect children from the risks that occur by mixing children and grownups in online communities where anonymity rules. Monteleone believes the only solution is to have separate communities for adults and children, both with membership verified by age.

Monteleone commends other popular online social community’s attempts at dealing directly with online safety issues, but believes that Age and Identity Verification is a superior solution to recently publicized software integration. Both site users and site management will need to see the final implementation of the various software solutions to determine the actual level of effectiveness compared to our verification system. Blumenthal and the group of 34 state attorney generals want the popular online communities that mix minors and adults as peers to cross check users' details with government databases to verify their age.

Following the Blumenthal model, GMI created GrownUpsOnline.com and implemented the Age and Identity Verification from the very beginning, thereby avoiding the mix of children and grownups that has plagued the other social networks. Monteleone also stated “we don't mix children and adults on a peer level socially off line due to the difference in maturity and interests, so why are we mixing children and adults online on the same peer level.” Separation of children from grownups is the solution and Age and Identity Verification is the process that the attorney generals are supporting.

Parents are also concerned about user privacy violations. The possible privacy violation issues are repeatedly being used as a reason for social networks to not use the Age and Identity Verification system. This just is not the case with the system chosen by GrownUpsOnline. Age and Identity Verification actually addresses social responsibility and privacy compliance issues. Stated on the GrownUpsOnline registration page, the process is; SSN Act Compliant, SSNPA Compliant, Customer Privacy Act Compliant, DPPA Compliant, FCRA Compliant, Graham Leach-Bliley Act Compliant, COPA Compliant, and COPPA Compliant.

The system reports with a yes or a no that the user submitted registration information is true. GrownUpsOnline does not retain any other information other than name, address, age and birthday. Monteleone said “users can still be aliased on the site, but every username is attached to a verified person, of whom only management knows the true identity. This promotes socially responsible behavior as now users can be held accountable for there online actions. This is an added benefit of the system and marks an end to the “Wild West Atmosphere” that proliferates on other social networking communities"

Pattie Dillon, President of Veratad Technologies, LLC of Englewood, NJ, the Age and ID Verification firm providing the verification services to GrownUpsOnline.com, stated "Social Networks are a growing part of the Internet Community and we are pleased to play a role in facilitating that growth by helping GrownUpsOnline.com manage responsible online account access. Veratad is a provider of real-time online Identity Verification Solutions designed to verify an individual’s identity and age while maintaining a high level of privacy protection for consumers.” Last year Veratad was selected as a fact witness by the United States Department of Justice to present testimony on the effectiveness of online age verification in the ongoing ACLU challenge to the constitutionality of the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) and has gone on to serve as a consultant to the DOJ regarding this very important case.

The minimum age to join GrownUpsOnline is 21, thereby keeping a separation between children and grownups that Monteleone states “have different value systems based on their age”. This system is the only way to make the separation possible. Age and Identity Verification is not a free service, for the provider or the site member. The cost of the service is one of the issues preventing its implementation; free sites would need to charge as ad revenues may not cover the cost of providing the service. GrownUpsOnline charges a small fee for membership, but both management and members realize the fee is the cost of building trust between its members, and the value of providing a safe Internet environment.