(IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ) Oh gosh.... Original by @GirlInaHoodie tap/space ----- (PLEASE READ THE WHOLE THING, ITS VERY IMPORTANT) Ooookay so um- logged into Scratch this morning and saw this screen- asking for my actual state in the US. I dont know how many people on here know about the AI age verification laws but, holy cow its here... Research it if you dont know about it!!! But here's a quick rundown: So basically, various websites will have an AI bot tracking everything you do and it will decide whether or not you are above or below the age of 18 (legal adult). If it decides you are below that age, it will automatically put restrictions on your account, and you cannot take them off until you give them (typically) some sort of selfie, or your government ID. YT was the first id heard of doing it (which is why im on an indefinite hiatus), so I will use that as an example. EDIT: I DO NOT KNOW FOR SURE if scratch is using an AI tracking bot yet! But this could definitely be a stepping stone to an AI bot tracking our activity. At the moment, what we are 100% sure of is that scratch is using our content (whether that be art or coding, in shared or unshared projects) to train third party sites and AI!!! Say all you watch on there are cartoons and colorful animations. This could be because you are an adult and just like that stuff (most of which are not on this site, but you get the idea), or maybe you have kids of your own and show them that kind of stuff. The AI bot tracks everything you watch, search, and people you follow/sub to. If it deems you "underage," it then puts restrictions onto your yt account, and the only way to get it back to normal, is to have them SCAN YOUR FACE or you SEND IN A PHOTO OF YOUR GOVERNMENT ID!! DO NOT DO THIS WITH YOUR, OR YOUR PARENT'S ID!!!! This is extremely unsafe for either party!! You don't just give stuff like that out!! There have been MANY cases where this stuff has been leaked and hacked. Emails and stuff are bad enough! DONT GIVE ANYONE THIS INFORMATION! IT'S BASIC INTERNET SAFETY!! EDIT: All of this also means scratch is LEGALLY ALLOWED TO USE OUR ART TO TRAIN AI WITHOUT TELLING US!! Use heavy watermarks or don't post art on Scratch anymore!! Honestly thinking about leaving now bc if I cant use scratch for art, then its pretty much pointless to me ToT All of that being said, if I randomly disappear off of Scratch, this stuff is why. All the age verification stuff makes me *extremely* uneasy- I DO NOT like the idea of an ai bot tracking me and everything I do, or snatching my art to train ai... This also makes me very very sad bc I do love this site, and many of the people on here.. It's my home and has been the only place ive been able to share my art. It's also been the reason ive grown my art this much. Now I'm not just saying goodbye, I'll still be here for now. But if this goes too far, I will leave. Please spread this around, whether you send someone the project link, or just tell them about it. This could be very dangerous, and I feel that it should be known. (P..S if it didnt ask for your location, it's probably bc your account is not in the US!!) Screenshots are from: https://mitscratch.freshdesk.com/en/support/solutions/articles/4000219339-privacy-policy I suggest reading it when you get the chance so you are also aware of everything they say. Never have I ever actually read thru the terms and services until now xD :') ----- Please please please educate yourselves on this. Knowledge is power. If you have the knowledge on stuff like this, they cant trick you into losing it all. also sorry for the rushed project lol. I'm working on the art for the raffle winners, as well as some other stuff. Let's hope I'll be here to share it all :') (Check inside the project in case I disappear to my continue to see art) ----- Check out these other projects that talk about this too! They go over some stuff I didnt :)
