Age Confirmation for Clients

[omegalul]

Hi everyone!

I'm not really going to open commissions anytime soon, but I wanted to get some advice on something I've been thinking about for some time.

So it is generally agreed that clients should be 18 years or older in order to commission adult/NSFW artwork, and in some cases artists have this requirement for any type of commission. I commissioned three artists for the former, but something struck me as off; despite their TOSs claiming that they only take 18+ clients for NSFW commissions, neither of them explicitly asked for confirmation of my age. Granted, I had my real age posted on the handle I used to contact them, but without showing any proof I could have very well been lying about my age.

I feel like more artists should ask for age in a more explicit way, but how would one go about it? Would you ask for state ID? I feel like asking for one infringes on people's privacy, but how else would you confirm someone's age if not that way?

Many thanks!

[baja]

It's rather uncommon for an artist to ask the client for their age, and often I see that in the TOS there is a reference to this along the lines of:
"By agreeing to these terms, you acknowledge you are above 18 yrs of age." Or something like that.

You're expected to read the TOS before an artist agrees to take on your commission, so you're expected to do your due diligence as a client, even if the artist isn't going around IDing people at the start of the process.

So in a way its going off of an honor system, and the presumption that you are an adult who has access to the payment method accepted.
Paypal requires all users to be 18 yrs old to maintain an account, as do most of the popular money transfer services if I'm not mistaken.

Here's a topic from a bit ago that covered this from the Artists' perspective on the matter, it might bring you some insight on how its handled from the other end.

[James]

Lots of places operate under the honor system.  It's why you'll find porn sites don't ask you to send ID to them to ensure you're 18.  All you have to do is pinky promise that you are.  In the vast majority of places this absolves you of any legal ramifications of sending porn to a minor.

As for collecting IDs, you'll find that anyone who tries will likely not see any business.  I'm well above 18, but wouldn't touch anyone who wants my ID with a 10 ft pole.  Plus anyone who collects this kind of information is responsible for how they store and use this information.  If they have international customers, then they will have to abide by international laws.  It's something we've had to brush upon while operating this site.

[omegalul]

Thank you both for your replies 🙂 A tad bit disappointed that the honor system allows leeway for minors to get NSFW art (PayPal's age requirement has been circumvented by others before), but I guess I'd rather that than have someone risk getting their identity stolen or worse. Again, thanks!!