XBOX 360 Child Restrictions - Page 2

Big Daddy Davee · 07-02-2008, 07:46 PM

Please can this issue be sorted as soon as possible. I also have a son with a child account.

All he wants to do is play the game online with his schoolfriend.

It is a bit of a gong show them not being able to play a 3+ game online.

vantheman1956 · 08-02-2008, 12:17 AM

I'm having the same problem trying to contact the Privacy Policy Administrator. E-mailed on Monday 4th Feb with Delivery and Read reciepts and have had absolutely nothing back. Have been doing some research this evening and have found a telephone number for the Chertsey office, supposed home of the PPA its 01932 450000 I've tried it a short while ago and it's certainly a working EA number so may well give this a go on Friday, also found the official statement relating to this issue on the EA web site, quite well hidden but it states

"In order for children 12 years old and under in such jurisdictions to participate in online activities that require registration, we require prior written permission or other verifiable consent from a parent or guardian. In other jurisdictions, prior written permission or other verifiable consent may be required from a parent or guardian for children under 14 or 18 years of age. Upon registration, the appropriate permission form will be made available. This form must be signed by the child's parent or guardian and returned to Electronic Arts by fax or mail to the Privacy Policy Administrator in the relevant country. Children 12 and under may not participate on certain of our sites. In some cases, we may not permit children under 14 or 18 years of age to participate in certain of our sites.

Once we have obtained parental consent, we are prohibited from conditioning a child's participation in an activity - like contests - on the child's disclosure of more personal information than is reasonably necessary to participate in the activity. If for any reason you are concerned that your child's personally identifiable information maintained by Electronic Arts is not correct or complete, should you wish to have your child's personal information deleted from our records, or if you want Electronic Arts to discontinue further collection or use of your child's personal information, please contact your Privacy Policy Administrator who will be happy to review, update or remove your child's information as appropriate."

vantheman1956 · 10-02-2008, 05:32 PM

Rang the number I found on Friday, explained to the extremely abrupt & rude lady on the switchboard that I wanted to speak to the Privacy Policy Administrator and all she wanted to know was whether I was a business or consumer customer. As soon as I said consumer she without any explanation transferred my call to a number which rang and rang then went to voice mail with no announcement of what/who I'd got through to. I didn't leave a message. Interesting that EA clearly state a policy that gives the consumer some power and then make it impossible for the consumer who contributes to their profits to actually engage the policy.
Not impressed.

DMA dave · 10-02-2008, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Webster

Thanks Choppsster, we'll be sure to push at our end as well to make sure that this is sorted out for you. It's unfortunate that the PPA are not responding. I'll see what I can do as well as letting support understand the issues.

Thanks for your patience.

-Matt

Have you any idea how long it takes for ea to update this rule as i have had no reply from emails or the letter i posted with the 'consent' on it??????? It seems ea does not want any future gamers to like them.......

DMA dave · 11-02-2008, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EAUK_Phenom

I believe it's due to the EA Online Privacy Policy (details of which can be found in the EA Online Terms and Conditions page in-game), although I'm not entirely sure. I have raised this internally, though, so hopefully I'll be able to give you an answer (and possibly a solution) to this issue soon (as soon as I receive a reply).

Quote:

Originally Posted by EAUK_Phenom

I agree that the suggestion to change your childs age through the console is inappropriate. If you could send me a Private Message with the Support Ticket number, I can look into that for you, too.

Phenom

Why cant EA just have a form on this website that we can fill in because i cannot see ea reading 'all' the letters of consent and that means that some people will not be able to play online. In my opinion this is a joke and it seems that once they got your money all they do is drop you. This is the reason i do not like ea but every now and then they bring out a good game then 'bang' you cant play it. it should be half price if you can only play half the game.
its like paying full price for a car then having to write of to someone before you can have an engine.......

lukeswillage · 12-02-2008, 02:57 PM

EA should at least have a rating on the games next to the XBOX live logo to prevent anyone doing what my son did and using all his christmas and birthday money to buy 12 months xbox live membership, fifa 08, tiger woods 08 and burnout paradise.

I really believe that EA and microsoft should be looked in to by the Office of Fair Trading as the covers of the games are misleading at best with 3+ and Xbox live clearly stated - but no mention of the 18+ for xbox live play.

At least EA seem to be listening a bit and responding in this thread - xbox live were worse than useless and didn't mention any of the bits of advice we've been offered on here.

Dsmano · 12-02-2008, 09:11 PM

Personally, I'm extremely angry at EA right now because of this.

I love Xbox Live, its a Key factor as to why I love gaming, but when it comes to EA I always was skeptical.

They are in no position to make their own rules about what children can and can't play, it is a 3+ game and so all ages should be able to play online providing they are abiding by XBOX LIVE'S rules not by EA's own policy, if it is an Xbox Live game, then have Xbox Live rules.

If you work for EA, and you just so happen to read this then please, PLEASE for the love of God tell the people that are doing this that they are helping no one at all and that they are just adding another layer of problems to the game.

And, tell them to stop being so bloody arrogant thinking that they should get their own policy.

If no one else gets one then why should they?

DMA dave · 13-02-2008, 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lukeswillage

EA should at least have a rating on the games next to the XBOX live logo to prevent anyone doing what my son did and using all his christmas and birthday money to buy 12 months xbox live membership, fifa 08, tiger woods 08 and burnout paradise.

I really believe that EA and microsoft should be looked in to by the Office of Fair Trading as the covers of the games are misleading at best with 3+ and Xbox live clearly stated - but no mention of the 18+ for xbox live play.

At least EA seem to be listening a bit and responding in this thread - xbox live were worse than useless and didn't mention any of the bits of advice we've been offered on here.

i phoned the ppa number found in this thread (http://www.ea.com/global/legal/privacy/privacy_contacts.jsp) and spoke to someone who said he will look into it for me but i dont know what will come of it as he said that it doesnt matter if i give consent they cannot change anything and he said just get a silver account for this(and other) game but that does not get the achievements. I can only suggest that everyone ring the ea private policy admin office and maybe when they inundated with calls they might do something but he assured me he has looked into this before and couldnt do anything.
It does actually say on the back of the box that under 13 cannot play onlive via live using a legit account. So our kids have to lie to play them, that will teach them well . Thanks EA.

UrbanRacer · 13-02-2008, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMA dave

It does actually say on the back of the box that under 13 cannot play onlive via live using a legit account. So our kids have to lie to play them, that will teach them well . Thanks EA.

I think, and I could be wrong, that this is not something in which EA have a choice but is enforced upon them to comply with local laws, hence the word "jurisdiction" mentioned in the Policy half-quoted by Vantheman1956. It may even be part of the requirements for carrying the PEGI ratings.

PEGIonline (logo on back of box) is an addition component of the PEGI ratings system (logo on front of box) and is designed to protect children while online.

The online experience with Paradise, as with almost all online games, is very different to the offline experience. When offline the AI cars don't call me a ****ing a***, ***, insult my parenthood, and threaten to kill or cut various bits off my body should they ever meet me. In addition, the AI cars do not try to take me down every 10 seconds while I am trying to get from one side of the city to the other. From personal experience I might suggest the PEGIonline component is there not for the protection of children but to protect us adults from them... ?

Sorry to be harsh but it does not teach children to lie to play, it teaches them that the adult responsible for thier upbringing should learn to read the back of the box before buying, or allowing them to buy, something. It seems to me you are ranting at EA for your own mistake...

choppster · 13-02-2008, 10:20 AM

Finally a reply from Privacy Policy Admininstrator.

I have refered the agent below to this thread, and asked them to clarify as this information is clearly contrary to the advice from Matt Webster at Criterion above.

Greetings,

Thank you for contacting Electronic Arts

Unfortunately as long as the gamer tag states your son is under the age of 13 he will not be able to play on the EA servers. The only option is to create a new gamer tag with the parent’s information. We physically cannot edit a Microsoft Xbox Live gamer tag as the information is owned by them.

If you have any further questions please take a moment to review our FAQ site http://support.ea.com

Take care,

EA Senior Supervisor Joseph B.
Player Relations
Tech Support
Electronic Arts

Matt Webster · 13-02-2008, 11:14 AM

Choppster, clearly there's a contradiction between the TOS statements and the advice that I've already provided and that response from Tech Support.

I will personally take this forward for you to get definitive information. Please stand by.

-Matt

choppster · 13-02-2008, 04:35 PM

Standing By!

In the mean time, I asked Support to read this thread and respond. And here's the response, which is still a big NO.

Greetings,

Thank you for contacting Electronic Arts

Written forms from parents are not accepted mainly because there is no way for us to change or edit an XBOX live gamer tag or a Play Station network ID, it is impossible for us to edit the information to show your sons account as being over the age of 13. Nor is there a tool that would allow us to say weather or a not a person is of age to play on the EA severs; your information supplied is not possible. Unfortunately the information you were supplied with is incorrect.

If you have any further questions please take a moment to review our FAQ site http://support.ea.com

Take care,

EA Senior Supervisor Joseph B.
Player Relations
Tech Support
Electronic Arts

DMA dave · 13-02-2008, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UrbanRacer

I think, and I could be wrong, that this is not something in which EA have a choice but is enforced upon them to comply with local laws, hence the word "jurisdiction" mentioned in the Policy half-quoted by Vantheman1956. It may even be part of the requirements for carrying the PEGI ratings.

PEGIonline (logo on back of box) is an addition component of the PEGI ratings system (logo on front of box) and is designed to protect children while online.

The online experience with Paradise, as with almost all online games, is very different to the offline experience. When offline the AI cars don't call me a ****ing a***, ***, insult my parenthood, and threaten to kill or cut various bits off my body should they ever meet me. In addition, the AI cars do not try to take me down every 10 seconds while I am trying to get from one side of the city to the other. From personal experience I might suggest the PEGIonline component is there not for the protection of children but to protect us adults from them... ?

Sorry to be harsh but it does not teach children to lie to play, it teaches them that the adult responsible for thier upbringing should learn to read the back of the box before buying, or allowing them to buy, something. It seems to me you are ranting at EA for your own mistake...

well if you are saying that me creating an account stating that my son is older than he is, (which i have been told to do) is not lying then i am not sure what lying is. I am not creating an argument with anyone here i am just confused as to why all achievements cannot be earnt until you are 13. And for the record those kids that give you abuse are probably over 13 so you have nothing to worry about from my 7 year old. (and as i said earlier i have all parental controls on so he cannot speak to or be spoken to by ANYONE except me because i am sitting next to him, because i am a responsible parent , all be it one that does not read EVERY bit of a box cover before buying it) .
Also at the beginning of this thread we were all told that we had to give written consent and it would all be ok, This is not true as far as i /we have managed to find out.

UrbanRacer · 13-02-2008, 10:11 PM

I agree with you, Dave, that there seems to be some confusion within EA as to whether or not your son should be able to play.

It seems that one part of EA is telling you that they use exclusively the information supplied to them via the xbox live system to assess whether or not an account is allowed to utilise the EA servers, while another part of EA is telling you that with written consent they can.. flag?.. a given account as being allowed to access regardless of xbox lives' information.

I'm not try to start an arguement either, and I can fully understand why you are frustrated, given the mixed messages.

I hope that this does get sorted for you one way or another.

Big Daddy Davee · 13-02-2008, 11:24 PM

I think EA clearly have an obligation to their customers here.

WRITE ON THE BOX THAT YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PLAY ONLINE ON XBOX LIVE WITH A CHILD ACCOUNT.

It is amazing how a child account can play FEAR or many other adult games but EA have their own restrictions.

You're just taking money out of young children's pockets.

Great game, great opportunity for kids to play online and a great opportunity for EA to attract kids to them......LOST!

UrbanRacer · 14-02-2008, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Daddy Davee

I think EA clearly have an obligation to their customers here.

WRITE ON THE BOX THAT YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PLAY ONLINE ON XBOX LIVE WITH A CHILD ACCOUNT.

To quote the back of the box;

Registration required to access online features. EA Terms & Conditions and feature updates are found at www ea com. Includes software that collects data necessary to provide online in-game advertising. You must be 13+ to register with EA Online. EA may retire online features after 30 days notice posted on www ea com.

choppster · 14-02-2008, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UrbanRacer

To quote the back of the box;

Registration required to access online features. EA Terms & Conditions and feature updates are found at www ea com. Includes software that collects data necessary to provide online in-game advertising. You must be 13+ to register with EA Online. EA may retire online features after 30 days notice posted on www ea com.

Registration required to access online features.
No Disagreement there.

EA Terms & Conditions and feature updates are found at www ea com
Which state that as a parent I can permit my under 13 to play by sending in a consent form available from the privacy administrator. As we have discovered, it appears that this is not true.

You must be 13+ to register with EA Online
I am. I am responsible for the child account, I pay for it, I created it. It's not my childs account to make agreements with anyone. He plays on it with my permission, and the same is true for all the other parentally managed accounts out there. It doesn't matter whether he's 3 or 17 it's my responsibility to agree to any terms. EA clearly agree with this in their own terms and conditions, but are choosing not to abide by them for Xbox live games currently.

UrbanRacer · 14-02-2008, 10:24 AM

Choppster, I agree with everything you say, I really do. I can see why quite a few people are a little annoyed with this. I have two daughters (aged 8 and 11) so I can appreciate the way you feel and, to be completely fair, I didn't read the back of the box either, but then I wasn't buying this for my kids. If I had been, I would be feeling pretty much exactly as you are now.

I am slightly suprised that I can create accounts for my kids and they can go play Halo 3 (a 15+ game in the U.K.), for example, or FEAR, as DMA Dave stated above, but they cannot access Burnout online.

The only difference between all these games, as far as I can see, is that Burnout requires registration on EA servers, and that Burnout carries online advertising, which Halo 3 and FEAR do not.

Looking at the situtation my guess would be that is less about the age of the players and more about laws relating to advertising and data protection, and how those laws related to children, specifically that according to those laws certain adverts cannot be targetted at children. The only way to ensure that certain adverts are not targetted at children is to collect data on the players to establish which ones are children.

I have also read the T&C's on EA.com and there is nothing there that states "People under the age of XX will be prevented from playing Burnout online".

As I posted previously, I hope this gets sorted for you, Dave and anyone else having this issue.

Smegsta · 14-02-2008, 06:08 PM

Firsly, thanks to Matt Webster from Citerion for the update BUT I think EA need to take a long hard look at their approach to customer service.

Like the posts above, my 7 year old son is an avid gamer, loves cars, and is great at Burnout Paradise. I wanted him to experience the game on line but the age restriction issue has reared it's head.

What I want to know is whether the Privacy Policy Administrators actually exist. I have sent them a couple of e-mails now, and they have not even bothered to send an automated reply, let alone a personal one.

They are where we are advise to go by EA to sort out this issue, and I need to know how to apply for written consent for my son to play EA games online. But if they will not reply, what chance has anyone got of getting this sorted.

MATT - IF you can update everyone on whether EA are going to respond, that would be great, and put some pressure on the PPA's then please do. Otherwise I, for one, will be boycotting EA games for good, which I assume means the Burnout series as well, which is a shame as it is such a great game.

toolong/short · 14-02-2008, 08:33 PM

If it was grand theft auto IV fair enough - but its a racing game lalala !

vantheman1956 · 15-02-2008, 05:25 PM

Hoorah, just got an e-mail from the Privacy Policy Administrator, reads

"Hi,
Please allow me to apologise for the delay in responding to your email.
An EA Online Account will allow the registrant to access online features such as chat and message boards as well as access to in-game multiplayer features for all EA Online products and websites. You can learn more about EA’s products at www.electronicarts.co.uk. You may also wish to view our Privacy Policy at http://www.ea.com/global/legal/privacy_noseal.jsp. Please note that we do not share the details of those individuals under the 18 regardless of consent.
ACTIVATE: If you have no objections to the activation of this account, please click here. This will accept the activation of the account and take you to a web page confirming the action. Alternatively, you can copy and paste this URL. http://email.ea.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/............. blah, blah

I hope this helps.
Best Regards,
Jody
EA Privacy Policy, UK and Ireland"

Unfortunately the URL doesn't appear to work and takes me to http://long.url.com/. So close yet so far. I'll update the thread on progress.

choppster · 15-02-2008, 05:28 PM

I now have a reply from the UK Privacy Policy Administrator after requesting a consent form by email for my 'under 12 year old'

Quote:

Please allow me to apologise for the delay in responding to your email.

An EA Online Account will allow the registrant to access online features such as chat and message boards as well as access to in-game multiplayer features for all EA Online products and websites. You can learn more about EA’s products at www.electronicarts.co.uk. You may also wish to view our Privacy Policy at http://www.ea.com/global/legal/privacy_noseal.jsp. Please note that we do not share the details of those individuals under the 18 regardless of consent.

ACTIVATE: If you have no objections to the activation of this account, please click here. This will accept the activation of the account and take you to a web page confirming the action. Alternatively, you can copy and paste this URL. http://email.ea.com/cgi-bin24/link-removed-for-privacy
I hope this helps.

The link didn' t work, whether I pasted or clicked it. I have requested another link and asked them to read this thread and advise based on the UK Privacy Policy.

DMA dave · 15-02-2008, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by choppster

I now have a reply from the UK Privacy Policy Administrator after requesting a consent form by email for my 'under 12 year old'

The link didn' t work, whether I pasted or clicked it. I have requested another link and asked them to read this thread and advise based on the UK Privacy Policy.

I am still waiting for the ppa i spoke to to even reply so you are doing well. This is turning out to be a real saga.......

i just got 404 not found from that link. Hopefully that means that someone wrote it down wrong?
I just looked at the link and saw that it says 'link removed' so removed that bit and it says:

This error (HTTP 403 Forbidden) means that Internet Explorer was able to connect to the website, but it does not have permission to view the webpage.
I am thinking it is an error in the url. maybe.

Big Daddy Davee · 16-02-2008, 02:31 AM

Urban, your moderator status is in the post I am sure.

We are talking about kids here. They are not going to drill down on text.

Maybe I am wrong. They shouldn't have to look further than the 3+ info on the front of the box in all fairness.

GONG SHOW.

Forget our disagreements and re-read this

Quote:

Great game, great opportunity for kids to play online and a great opportunity for EA to attract kids to them......LOST!

DMA dave · 16-02-2008, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by choppster

I now have a reply from the UK Privacy Policy Administrator after requesting a consent form by email for my 'under 12 year old'

The link didn' t work, whether I pasted or clicked it. I have requested another link and asked them to read this thread and advise based on the UK Privacy Policy.

just got what looks like an auto reply or 'jody'is busy, seen this before i expect

ps. this was from an email asking for the consent form.... not the admin guy who is 'getting back to me'.

Hi,

Thank you for contacting Electronic Arts.

An EA Online Account will allow the registrant to access online features such as chat and message boards as well as access to in-game multiplayer features for all EA Online products and websites. You can learn more about EA’s products at www.electronicarts.co.uk. You may also wish to view our Privacy Policy at http://www.ea.com/global/legal/privacy_noseal.jsp. Please note that we do not share the details of those individuals under the 18 regardless of consent.

ACTIVATE: If you have no objections to the activation of this account, please click here. This will accept the activation of the account and take you to a web page confirming the action. Alternatively, you can copy and paste this URL. http://email.ea.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/heTu0VwmGt0A0BYHj0EW9BzuoVolGzWh

I hope this helps.

Best Regards,

Jody
EA Privacy Policy, UK and Ireland

Matt , could you contact jody and get her to check the url.
We are getting no where but i am not letting this go

13-02-2008, 10:20 AM	#35 (permalink)
choppster Rookie Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 18	Finally a reply from Privacy Policy Admininstrator. I have refered the agent below to this thread, and asked them to clarify as this information is clearly contrary to the advice from Matt Webster at Criterion above. Greetings, Thank you for contacting Electronic Arts Unfortunately as long as the gamer tag states your son is under the age of 13 he will not be able to play on the EA servers. The only option is to create a new gamer tag with the parent’s information. We physically cannot edit a Microsoft Xbox Live gamer tag as the information is owned by them. If you have any further questions please take a moment to review our FAQ site http://support.ea.com Take care, EA Senior Supervisor Joseph B. Player Relations Tech Support Electronic Arts Last edited by choppster; 13-02-2008 at 10:28 AM..

13-02-2008, 10:11 PM	#39 (permalink)
UrbanRacer Rookie Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Peterborough, UK Age: 43 Posts: 67	I agree with you, Dave, that there seems to be some confusion within EA as to whether or not your son should be able to play. It seems that one part of EA is telling you that they use exclusively the information supplied to them via the xbox live system to assess whether or not an account is allowed to utilise the EA servers, while another part of EA is telling you that with written consent they can.. flag?.. a given account as being allowed to access regardless of xbox lives' information. I'm not try to start an arguement either, and I can fully understand why you are frustrated, given the mixed messages. I hope that this does get sorted for you one way or another. __________________ Last edited by UrbanRacer; 14-02-2008 at 09:02 AM..

14-02-2008, 10:24 AM	#43 (permalink)
UrbanRacer Rookie Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Peterborough, UK Age: 43 Posts: 67	Choppster, I agree with everything you say, I really do. I can see why quite a few people are a little annoyed with this. I have two daughters (aged 8 and 11) so I can appreciate the way you feel and, to be completely fair, I didn't read the back of the box either, but then I wasn't buying this for my kids. If I had been, I would be feeling pretty much exactly as you are now. I am slightly suprised that I can create accounts for my kids and they can go play Halo 3 (a 15+ game in the U.K.), for example, or FEAR, as DMA Dave stated above, but they cannot access Burnout online. The only difference between all these games, as far as I can see, is that Burnout requires registration on EA servers, and that Burnout carries online advertising, which Halo 3 and FEAR do not. Looking at the situtation my guess would be that is less about the age of the players and more about laws relating to advertising and data protection, and how those laws related to children, specifically that according to those laws certain adverts cannot be targetted at children. The only way to ensure that certain adverts are not targetted at children is to collect data on the players to establish which ones are children. I have also read the T&C's on EA.com and there is nothing there that states "People under the age of XX will be prevented from playing Burnout online". As I posted previously, I hope this gets sorted for you, Dave and anyone else having this issue. __________________

14-02-2008, 06:08 PM	#44 (permalink)
Smegsta Hi, I'm New! Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 1	Will EA Respond ? Firsly, thanks to Matt Webster from Citerion for the update BUT I think EA need to take a long hard look at their approach to customer service. Like the posts above, my 7 year old son is an avid gamer, loves cars, and is great at Burnout Paradise. I wanted him to experience the game on line but the age restriction issue has reared it's head. What I want to know is whether the Privacy Policy Administrators actually exist. I have sent them a couple of e-mails now, and they have not even bothered to send an automated reply, let alone a personal one. They are where we are advise to go by EA to sort out this issue, and I need to know how to apply for written consent for my son to play EA games online. But if they will not reply, what chance has anyone got of getting this sorted. MATT - IF you can update everyone on whether EA are going to respond, that would be great, and put some pressure on the PPA's then please do. Otherwise I, for one, will be boycotting EA games for good, which I assume means the Burnout series as well, which is a shame as it is such a great game.

07-02-2008, 07:46 PM	#26 (permalink)
Big Daddy Davee Rookie Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 4	Please can this issue be sorted as soon as possible. I also have a son with a child account. All he wants to do is play the game online with his schoolfriend. It is a bit of a gong show them not being able to play a 3+ game online.

08-02-2008, 12:17 AM	#27 (permalink)
vantheman1956 Rookie Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 6	I'm having the same problem trying to contact the Privacy Policy Administrator. E-mailed on Monday 4th Feb with Delivery and Read reciepts and have had absolutely nothing back. Have been doing some research this evening and have found a telephone number for the Chertsey office, supposed home of the PPA its 01932 450000 I've tried it a short while ago and it's certainly a working EA number so may well give this a go on Friday, also found the official statement relating to this issue on the EA web site, quite well hidden but it states "In order for children 12 years old and under in such jurisdictions to participate in online activities that require registration, we require prior written permission or other verifiable consent from a parent or guardian. In other jurisdictions, prior written permission or other verifiable consent may be required from a parent or guardian for children under 14 or 18 years of age. Upon registration, the appropriate permission form will be made available. This form must be signed by the child's parent or guardian and returned to Electronic Arts by fax or mail to the Privacy Policy Administrator in the relevant country. Children 12 and under may not participate on certain of our sites. In some cases, we may not permit children under 14 or 18 years of age to participate in certain of our sites. Once we have obtained parental consent, we are prohibited from conditioning a child's participation in an activity - like contests - on the child's disclosure of more personal information than is reasonably necessary to participate in the activity. If for any reason you are concerned that your child's personally identifiable information maintained by Electronic Arts is not correct or complete, should you wish to have your child's personal information deleted from our records, or if you want Electronic Arts to discontinue further collection or use of your child's personal information, please contact your Privacy Policy Administrator who will be happy to review, update or remove your child's information as appropriate."

10-02-2008, 05:32 PM	#28 (permalink)
vantheman1956 Rookie Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 6	Rang the number I found on Friday, explained to the extremely abrupt & rude lady on the switchboard that I wanted to speak to the Privacy Policy Administrator and all she wanted to know was whether I was a business or consumer customer. As soon as I said consumer she without any explanation transferred my call to a number which rang and rang then went to voice mail with no announcement of what/who I'd got through to. I didn't leave a message. Interesting that EA clearly state a policy that gives the consumer some power and then make it impossible for the consumer who contributes to their profits to actually engage the policy. Not impressed.

12-02-2008, 02:57 PM	#31 (permalink)
lukeswillage Hi, I'm New! Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 1	EA should at least have a rating on the games next to the XBOX live logo to prevent anyone doing what my son did and using all his christmas and birthday money to buy 12 months xbox live membership, fifa 08, tiger woods 08 and burnout paradise. I really believe that EA and microsoft should be looked in to by the Office of Fair Trading as the covers of the games are misleading at best with 3+ and Xbox live clearly stated - but no mention of the 18+ for xbox live play. At least EA seem to be listening a bit and responding in this thread - xbox live were worse than useless and didn't mention any of the bits of advice we've been offered on here.

12-02-2008, 09:11 PM	#32 (permalink)
Dsmano Rookie Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 21	Personally, I'm extremely angry at EA right now because of this. I love Xbox Live, its a Key factor as to why I love gaming, but when it comes to EA I always was skeptical. They are in no position to make their own rules about what children can and can't play, it is a 3+ game and so all ages should be able to play online providing they are abiding by XBOX LIVE'S rules not by EA's own policy, if it is an Xbox Live game, then have Xbox Live rules. If you work for EA, and you just so happen to read this then please, PLEASE for the love of God tell the people that are doing this that they are helping no one at all and that they are just adding another layer of problems to the game. And, tell them to stop being so bloody arrogant thinking that they should get their own policy. If no one else gets one then why should they?

13-02-2008, 11:14 AM	#36 (permalink)
Matt Webster Criterion Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 38	Choppster, clearly there's a contradiction between the TOS statements and the advice that I've already provided and that response from Tech Support. I will personally take this forward for you to get definitive information. Please stand by. -Matt

13-02-2008, 04:35 PM	#37 (permalink)
choppster Rookie Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 18	Standing By! In the mean time, I asked Support to read this thread and respond. And here's the response, which is still a big NO. Greetings, Thank you for contacting Electronic Arts Written forms from parents are not accepted mainly because there is no way for us to change or edit an XBOX live gamer tag or a Play Station network ID, it is impossible for us to edit the information to show your sons account as being over the age of 13. Nor is there a tool that would allow us to say weather or a not a person is of age to play on the EA severs; your information supplied is not possible. Unfortunately the information you were supplied with is incorrect. If you have any further questions please take a moment to review our FAQ site http://support.ea.com Take care, EA Senior Supervisor Joseph B. Player Relations Tech Support Electronic Arts

13-02-2008, 11:24 PM	#40 (permalink)
Big Daddy Davee Rookie Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 4	I think EA clearly have an obligation to their customers here. WRITE ON THE BOX THAT YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PLAY ONLINE ON XBOX LIVE WITH A CHILD ACCOUNT. It is amazing how a child account can play FEAR or many other adult games but EA have their own restrictions. You're just taking money out of young children's pockets. Great game, great opportunity for kids to play online and a great opportunity for EA to attract kids to them......LOST!

14-02-2008, 08:33 PM	#45 (permalink)
toolong/short Rookie Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 2	If it was grand theft auto IV fair enough - but its a racing game lalala !

15-02-2008, 05:25 PM	#46 (permalink)
vantheman1956 Rookie Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 6	Hoorah, just got an e-mail from the Privacy Policy Administrator, reads "Hi, Please allow me to apologise for the delay in responding to your email. An EA Online Account will allow the registrant to access online features such as chat and message boards as well as access to in-game multiplayer features for all EA Online products and websites. You can learn more about EA’s products at www.electronicarts.co.uk. You may also wish to view our Privacy Policy at http://www.ea.com/global/legal/privacy_noseal.jsp. Please note that we do not share the details of those individuals under the 18 regardless of consent. ACTIVATE: If you have no objections to the activation of this account, please click here. This will accept the activation of the account and take you to a web page confirming the action. Alternatively, you can copy and paste this URL. http://email.ea.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/............. blah, blah I hope this helps. Best Regards, Jody EA Privacy Policy, UK and Ireland" Unfortunately the URL doesn't appear to work and takes me to http://long.url.com/. So close yet so far. I'll update the thread on progress.