PARENTAL CONSENT FOR EPIC ACCOUNTS

Why are you emailing me about giving parental consent?

If a player indicates they are a child, privacy laws may require a parent or guardian to provide permission for them to access an online game or service that collects personal information. To comply with these laws, we need to verify that the person providing consent for their child to access that service is in fact an adult.

Your email was provided by a child who has created an Epic account. An Epic account may be used to access Epic games and services, such as Fortnite, Rocket League or Fall Guys, and other games and services not owned by Epic Games via Epic Account sign-in. Due to your child’s age, their account is a Cabined Account, which does not have access to certain content or features until you provide consent, or until they reach the age of digital consent in their region.

Disabled features include:

Communicating with other players using voice chat or free text chat
Purchasing items for money
Downloading games that are not owned by Epic
Receiving recommendations based on past activity
Receiving email marketing or push notifications
Making trades in Rocket League
Using Sign in with Epic, including linking accounts to certain external services, websites or applications
Choosing custom display names
Using SMS-based two-factor authentication

The email you receive will include a link to a process in your web browser that will allow you to provide consent for your child, and to set up Parental Controls. As part of the process, you will be asked to confirm that you are the child’s parent or guardian and to verify that you are an adult.

If you don’t follow the link in your email to provide permission, your child will still be able to play Fortnite, Rocket League, Fall Guys and other Epic-owned games without access to these features.

If you want to delete your child’s account entirely, please log into your child’s account and follow the instructions in this article.

Why do I need to grant my child permission to access this service?

If a player indicates they are under the age of digital consent in their country, privacy laws may require a parent or guardian to provide permission for them to access certain features of games or services that collect personal information.

If your child is under 13 (or the age of digital consent in their region) their account will not have access to certain content or features until you provide permission, or until they reach the age of digital consent in their region.

Disabled features include:

Communicating with other players using voice chat or free text chat
Purchasing items for money
Downloading games that are not owned by Epic
Receiving recommendations based on past activity
Receiving email marketing or push notifications
Making trades in Rocket League
Using Sign in with Epic, including linking accounts to certain external services, websites or applications
Choosing custom display names
Using SMS-based two-factor authentication

The email you receive will include a link to a process in your web browser that will allow you to provide permissions for your child, and to set up Parental Controls. As part of the process, you will be asked to confirm that you are the child’s parent or guardian and to verify that you are an adult.

If you don’t follow the link in your email to provide permission, your child will still be able to play Epic’s games without access to these features.

What is a Cabined Account?

Cabined Accounts are a new type of Epic account that will provide a tailored experience that is safe and inclusive for younger players. If a player indicates they are under 13 (or their country’s age of digital consent), they will be asked to provide a parent or guardian’s email address so that the parent or guardian can provide consent for the player to access certain features in Epic’s products. While waiting for parental consent, players will still be able to play Fortnite, Rocket League, or Fall Guys with full access to previously purchased or earned content in-game, but won’t be able to access certain content or features until their parent or guardian provides consent and completes the account setup.

Cabined Accounts will have the following features disabled:

Communicating with other players using voice chat or free text chat
Purchasing items for money
Downloading games that are not owned by Epic
Receiving recommendations based on past activity
Receiving email marketing or push notifications
Making trades in Rocket League
Using Sign in With Epic, including linking accounts to certain external services, websites or applications
Choosing custom display names
Using SMS-based two-factor authentication

Players in a Cabined Account will still be able to play Fortnite, Rocket League, Fall Guys and other games owned by Epic, and will still be able to access third-party games they have previously downloaded from the Epic Games Store.

Players can access features that are unavailable in their Cabined Account by having their parent or guardian provide consent and complete the account setup, or when they reach age 13 (or the age of digital consent in their region). Players can resend the email requesting consent from a parent or guardian by going to the Epic Account portal and following the instructions under Request Parental Permission.

My child has already been playing Fortnite/Rocket League/Fall Guys. Why are you asking me for consent now?

We have changed the features available in our services, and have begun to ask players for their birth dates. A player’s age information enables us to apply the right settings to ensure the best experience for all players. By providing your consent and setting up Parental Controls, you can choose the right experience for your child.

What personal information does Epic collect when a child creates an Epic Games account?

When a player under 13 or under the age of digital consent in their country, whichever is higher, creates an Epic account, their account will be a Cabined Account until they receive a parent or guardian’s permission to access additional features or services across Epic’s games and products. Epic collects limited information from Cabined Accounts to enable playing Epic-owned games such as Fortnite, Rocket League or Fall Guys. While in a Cabined Account, players won’t be able to access certain content or features until their parent or guardian provides consent and completes the account setup.

Cabined Accounts will have the following features disabled:

Communicating with other players using voice chat or free text chat
Purchasing items for money
Downloading games that are not owned by Epic
Receiving recommendations based on past activity
Receiving email marketing or push notifications
Making trades in Rocket League
Using Sign in With Epic, including linking accounts to certain external services, websites or applications
Choosing custom display names
Using SMS-based two-factor authentication

Once a parent or guardian provides permission to access additional features or services, they will be able to set parental controls on the account, including the use of voice or free text chat, purchases and the age ratings of games the account can get in the Epic Games Store.

For more information about what information Epic may collect from accounts, please see the Epic Games Privacy Policy.

Why do you need my personal information to verify my identity?

Epic has partnered with Kids Web Services (KWS), the leading parental consent and verification platform, for this service. KWS offers several ways to verify that you are an adult depending on which country your child is in. The information provided is only used for verification purposes and is not saved.

For more information about each method, see What verification methods are available in my country? below.

Who is KWS?

Kids Web Services Ltd operates technology and services to make the internet safer for kids and teens. Its Kids Web Services (KWS) platform enables developers to manage parental consent and to verify the identity of parents or guardians when granting their children permission to access services and use features that collect personal information.

Kids Web Services Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Epic Games Inc. For more information please visit www.kidswebservices.com.

How does the KWS parent verification process work?

Once a parent or guardian has provided consent for their child to access features in a digital service, KWS will give the parent a choice of methods to verify that they are in fact an adult. This verification step is part of a process known as ‘verifiable parental consent’, which is required by certain privacy laws to help ensure that the person providing consent is the parent.

Methods to verify that the parent is an adult may include making a small refundable charge to a credit card, checking a social security number against a government database, or scanning a physical identification card. The information provided by the parent or guardian is only used for verification purposes and is not saved.

For more information about each method, see What verification methods are available in my country? and Will you need to collect my personal information more than once to verify me? below.

What verification methods are available in my country?

When prompted to verify you’re an adult, you’ll only see the verification methods that apply to you. These depend on the country your child is in.

Types of verification methods:

Credit or Debit Card (available globally)
Social Security Number (available only in the US)
CPF Number (available only in Brazil)
CURP (available only in Mexico)
ID Scan (available outside the US and South Korea)
Face Scan (available outside the US and South Korea)

Credit or debit card verification (available globally)

A successful monetary transaction on a credit or debit card helps verify you're an adult. It’s also likely that you have oversight on any transactions made on the card, so you will know if it has been used for a verification.

Credit and debit card verification works differently depending on whether you are located in the US or the rest of the world.

If your child is located in the US, $0.05 (USD) is charged to your card. This is refunded within 8-13 business days.
If your child is located outside of the US, there is no charge to your card. Instead, a small amount is temporarily authorized against your card and then released.

This service is provided by payment processor Stripe, but KWS will appear as the merchant associated with the charge/authorization on your statement.

Learn more about how Stripe handles personal information in their privacy policy.

Social Security Number verification (available only in the US)

Your first name, last name, date of birth, address, zip code and the last 4 digits of your social security number (SSN) are checked against a government database to confirm you’re an adult. This service is provided by Veratad.

Learn more about how Veratad handles personal information in their privacy policy.

CPF Number verification (available only in Brazil)

Your date of birth and CPF (Cadastro de Pessoas Físicas) ID number are checked against a government database to confirm you’re an adult. This service is provided by Serpro.

Learn more about how Serpro handles personal information in their privacy policy.

CURP verification (available only in Mexico)

Your first name, maternal last name, paternal last name, and CURP (Clave Única de Registro de Población) ID number are checked against a government database to confirm you’re an adult. This service is provided by Nubarium.

Learn more about how Nubarium handles personal information in their privacy policy.

ID Scan verification (available outside the US and South Korea)

The front and back of your physical ID card, or your passport, is checked against trusted databases to confirm you’re an adult. For best results, we suggest using a valid passport or driver’s license. In some regions, we also accept government IDs and citizenship cards. This service is provided by Veratad or Veriff.

Learn more about how Veriff handles personal information in their privacy policy.

Face Scan verification (available in all countries except the US and South Korea)

The camera on your phone, laptop, or tablet is used to scan your facial features to estimate your age. This service is provided by our partner Yoti. If you believe Yoti has incorrectly estimated that you are not an adult, please choose another verification method and try again.

Learn more about how Yoti handles personal information in their privacy policy.

The verification method I tried did not work in my country…

The KWS service shows you verification methods that are appropriate to the country your child’s account is connected to. It may be that you are in a different country than your child, or that your child has changed the country of their account to one that is different than the one they are in. To fix the issue please try the following:

Go back in the flow and select another method, such as credit card or face scan (if available), that may work regardless of which country you’re in.
If that does not work, consider changing the country of the Epic account to the country that you’re in by following these instructions.
If that does not work, please contact player support by clicking here.

Will you need to collect my personal information more than once to verify me?

Once you are verified as a parent/guardian, KWS remembers this across games and services that use its technology. This minimizes personal data processing, since you only provide your verification details once, and it makes it easier for parents to grant permissions across the many digital experiences their children sign up for.

KWS calls this network of verified parents/guardians the "ParentGraph". The ParentGraph stores a scrambled (hashed) version of your email address next to your verified status. In this form, your email address can’t be read or used by anyone. You're only confirmed as verified if your child provides the same email address when signing up for another service that uses KWS technology.

A parent or guardian may have to verify themself again if:

The game or service has not enabled the verification method (such as credit card, ID scan, etc.) that the parent or guardian used before.
After verification, the parent or guardian asked KWS to remove them from the ParentGraph.

KWS will remove you from the ParentGraph if you ask them to. To request removal, follow the link at the bottom of the email you received after you successfully verified as a parent. You will be asked to confirm your request.

Is the information I provide during the parent verification process stored?

Neither Epic Games nor KWS stores credit or debit card details, national ID numbers or face scans provided during the adult verification process. The information provided is only used for verification purposes and is not saved.

The KWS privacy policy explains how KWS collects and processes your personal data.

Why was my credit or debit card charged by KWS?

When verifying your identity with a Credit or Debit Card, KWS will perform a monetary transaction.

If your child is located in the US, $0.05 (USD) is charged to your card. This is refunded within 8-13 business days.
If your child is located outside of the US, there is no charge to your card. Instead, a small amount is temporarily authorized against your card and then released.

You say my card isn’t charged, but I can see an amount deducted in my bank statement…

If you see the charge in your bank statement, rest assured that the charge is not permanent. Some banks show the pre-authorization as a temporary charge when the pre-authorization period crosses the end of a statement period. The charge will nevertheless be released and show as a reversal in your next statement.

If your child is located in the US, the amount you see on your statement is a charge, but will be refunded in 8-13 business days.

Please contact your bank for more information.

I’ve granted permission for my child. How can I revoke permission?

Epic wants to empower families with tools that enable them to make informed decisions about their digital experience. You can change your Parental Controls permissions at any time. Our Parental Controls help you manage:

Your child’s access to social features and purchasing within games owned and operated by Epic, including Fortnite, Fall Guys, and Rocket League.
Which games your child can get in the Epic Games Store.

These controls can be set or modified via the Epic Account Portal and from within the Fortnite Parental Controls menu. There are also parental controls available on gaming platforms such as PlayStation®, Xbox, Nintendo Switch™, and mobile devices.

If you want to delete your child’s account entirely, see How can I delete my child’s Epic account?

How can I delete my child’s Epic account?

The easiest way to delete an account is through our self-service tool, which you can do while signed into your child’s account on the website. Just follow these instructions for deleting accounts.

You can also submit a player support request instead by clicking here. You will need to go through additional verification steps to demonstrate that you are the parent of this account holder to delete the account.

How can I configure Parental Controls on my child’s account?

You can set or modify Parental Controls via the Epic Account Portal and from within the Fortnite Parental Controls menu. There are also parental controls available on gaming platforms such as PlayStation®, Xbox, Nintendo Switch™, and mobile devices.

For more information please see Epic Games Parental Controls.

Why can’t I enable Voice Chat with Everyone for my child?

Depending on your child’s age, some features or content may not be available until your child is older. If your child is under 10 years old, the maximum voice chat setting is “Friends Only”.

For more information please see Epic Games Parental Controls.