Minors spend more than ten yuan to rent an account, and then they can bypass the platform review and play games for unlimited hours. How to prevent "game rental account"?
Our reporter Chen Xi
The State Press and Publication Administration issued a notice a few days ago, requiring all online game companies to only provide one-hour service to minors from 20 to 21:00 on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and legal holidays.
However, a reporter from the "Workers Daily" found that although online game companies are actively implementing the new regulations, minors can still play games without restrictions during non-specified hours by "renting their accounts".
The reporter found that a large number of account rental platforms are active on the Internet.
Under the pressure of the new regulations, some platforms have set up a "real-name authentication" link, but they are lax and full of loopholes; other platforms not only do not verify whether the buyer is an adult, but instead entice minors to place orders with the selling point of "non-prevention addiction" .
Automatically log in to the game through the plug-in program, easily avoid the review of the game platform, and take advantage of the "anti-addiction mechanism".
Use plug-in programs to avoid "anti-addiction"
"The anti-addiction system is tight enough, how can they still have it?" Mr. Zhou, a parent of a sixth-grade student in Beijing, has a complicated mood recently. After the game ban was introduced, he thought he could sit back and relax, but caught his son cat playing games in the bed in the middle of the night. .
The child's "confession" made him sigh that he was "unpredictable", "I even saved pocket money and rented an account. The rank is higher and there is no time limit."
In recent years, the game industry has developed rapidly, and the number of rental business has increased.
As far as most online games are concerned, the gaming experience depends on the amount of recharge. The equipment costing hundreds of dollars at every turn has discouraged many followers, and also allowed the rental platform to smell business opportunities.
How does the game rental account bypass the "anti-addiction mechanism"?
Game review blogger Shen Adu told reporters that the profit chain of account renting consists of account dealers, renting and selling platforms, and third-party registration software.
"Login to online games requires real-name verification, and the rental platform automatically submits the verified account to the system through a plug-in program. Underage players will receive a key after payment, and they can directly enter the game page by typing in the login software. ."
In response to this kind of covert operation, game companies have introduced face recognition technology.
This year, Tencent launched the "Zero Cruise" function in more than 60 games under Tencent, which focused on face screening on accounts that have been played at night for a certain period of time and whose real names are adults.
According to the latest data released by Tencent Games, as of June 2021, an average of 5.8 million accounts and 28,000 accounts have triggered facial recognition verification during the log-in link and 28,000 accounts have triggered the facial recognition verification during the payment link every day. 91.4% of the accounts were included in the anti-addiction supervision, and 87% of the accounts in the payment link were blocked from recharging.
In other words, even if minors use parental or other information fraudulently when logging in, they may be defeated in the face of face recognition triggered from time to time.
Shen Adu said that there is no such "worry" when using a rented account. If the face recognition pops up, the renting platform will promise to refund the remaining time or change the account to the buyer.
"Green light all the way" for minors' rental number
At present, in the mobile application market and major e-commerce platforms, you can easily search for game accounts to rent and sell apps and shops.
The reporter saw on the homepage of a certain head platform that the rental range includes nearly 200 mobile games such as Honor of Kings and Peace Elite, as well as nearly 300 terminal games such as League of Legends and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. Each game has a large number of accounts for rent.
According to industry insiders, there are three sources of accounts on the platform: account dealers use social platforms to find adult players to collect accounts; account rental platforms collect ID card information through multiple channels to register themselves; and buy accounts in batches from professional criminals who steal accounts.
Take the hot game King of Glory as an example. The account rental price is determined by the rank, the number of skins, and the number of heroes. Most accounts ask for less than RMB 10, and there are also offers such as "rent 3 get 2 free" and "special night package".
Among them, the highest asking price is the strongest king account with 351 skins and 104 heroes. It only costs 17 yuan to rent for one hour, which is within the range of students.
The reporter found that with the continuous tightening of "anti-addiction" supervision, number-renting merchants added real-name certifications in the registration process in order to hide their eyes and ears, but secretly gave underage buyers a "green light".
A large-scale platform prompts "Minors are not allowed to place orders" on the homepage, but the reporter can pass the verification by entering the ID number at will.
In a Taobao store, the customer service not only failed to verify the age of the reporter, but instead suggested that a valid ID number could be provided when the reporter euphemistically stated that he was "underage."
In addition, many shops put the labels of "preventing addiction" and "real-name authentication" on their renting accounts in order to attract underage customers.
"In the leasing business, account holders and users have nothing to do with each other, and the restrictions on gaming platforms are much weaker, and the task of supervising minors has shifted to the account rental and sales platform. Adults can rent accounts unimpeded, and the'anti-addiction system' has become a display." Shen Adu said.
Multiple measures to plug the identification loopholes
Regarding the chaotic phenomenon of account renting and selling, the person in charge of Tencent Games stated that account renting violated the user service agreement and has sued or sent letters to more than 20 account trading platforms and multiple e-commerce platforms requesting the suspension of related services.
Tencent will upgrade its anti-addiction system and strictly review accounts that frequently log in or change devices from other places.
Gao Tianchong, a teacher at the School of Cyberspace Security of Southeast University, analyzed that some game companies use artificial intelligence algorithms to identify whether account users and holders are the same.
The game time and the frequency of voice communication that minors are accustomed to are different from those of adults, and the algorithm will compare them accordingly, and face recognition will only be triggered when they are suspicious.
In order to ensure the user experience, some game platforms may lower the trigger standard, and the algorithm itself has errors, and minors will be missed.
Relevant departments urgently need to conduct research and uniform standards to urge game companies to conduct dynamic real-time identity authentication for users.
It is worth noting that in the "Personal Information Protection Act", biometrics and personal information of minors under the age of 14 are listed as sensitive information that "the guardian's consent is required for processing".
Gao Tianchong said that when collecting biometric information such as facial recognition and fingerprints in the game industry and account renting platforms, it is necessary to pay special attention to protecting the privacy of minors and to prevent use beyond the authorized scope.
Regarding this, the regulator should do a good job of assessment and filing, and respond to public doubts in a timely manner.
Shen Adu suggested that the management of leased accounts should be combined with unblocking.
"The market size of online games and the number of players are expanding rapidly. It cannot be denied that there is a natural demand for account rental and sales. We should continue to standardize and improve the number rental industry under the premise of strict control of'anti-addiction.' The game companies themselves can also provide short-term account rental services or satisfy their wishes in other ways."