Age verification, end to end
CHF CONSULTING LLC, 505 20th St North, Suite 1220 1326, Birmingham, AL 35203.
Every place the club asks how old somebody is, what happens when the answer is 18 or older, and what happens when it is not.
This page answers one question in pictures: how does The Velvet Rope establish that a person is an adult, and what does the service do when they are not. Every picture was taken on the live service at velvetrope.us. The account used inside the app is a sample account, its photographs are generated placeholders and its identity document is a drawn rectangle marked SAMPLE DOCUMENT, so no real member's face, name or document appears anywhere here.
There are three checks, and they are deliberately not the same kind of thing. A door on the way in, which anybody can answer. A declaration inside the application, signed in the applicant's own hand. And a government identity document, compared to a photograph of the applicant's face by a member of staff, which is the one that actually decides it. The club does not treat the first two as verification. They are notice, and they are the record of what the applicant claimed.
- 1The door on the website
- 2The same door in the app
- 3What the applicant declares
- 4The government ID, and the person who reads it
- 5The two outcomes, side by side
The door on the website
A first visit to velvetrope.us is stopped before anything on the page can be read. The panel holds the scroll, so there is nothing behind it to reach. An answer is kept in that browser, and both answers are kept: yes is not asked again, and no is not asked again either.
The same door in the app
The members' app asks the identical question on its first launch, before the sign in screen is reachable. The sign in screen itself then carries a standing 18+ Adults only mark under the club's name, so the notice is on the screen every time somebody signs in, not only once.
What the applicant declares
Past the door, an application is opened. Two of its steps put the applicant's age on the record in their own words, and neither of them is treated as proof. The pictures in this chapter and the next are from the full walkthrough at velvetrope.us/compliance/workflow, where the same application is shown from end to end.
The government ID, and the person who reads it
This is the check the club relies on. No application can be approved without it, and it is not automated: a member of staff opens the document, reads the date of birth, and compares the face on it to a photograph taken through the camera at the moment of applying and to every photograph on the profile.
An applicant whose document shows a date of birth under 18 is declined at this step and the account is closed. Nothing is charged, because no card is asked for anywhere in the application: payment is only offered after approval, which is step 16 of the end to end walkthrough. An applicant who never reaches approval is therefore never a customer.
The two outcomes, side by side
The same journey, taken by an adult and by somebody who is not.
Admitted, after a person has checked
Confirms age at the door. Opens an application. Accepts the Code of Conduct including the 18 or older line. Gives an age on the dossier. Uploads a government ID and takes a live photograph. A concierge compares the document to the face and to the profile photographs, telephones the applicant and speaks to them, and only then approves. The membership screen with its price is offered after that, and payment is taken on Stripe Checkout.
Stopped at the door, and stopped again at the document
Answering under 18 replaces the page with a closed notice, on the website and in the app, and the answer is remembered. Somebody who answers falsely at the door is stopped at the identity check instead: the date of birth on the government ID is read by a member of staff, the application is declined, and the account is closed. No card is asked for at any point before approval, so a declined applicant is never charged and never billed.
A member whose age is later in doubt
Any member can report another from a profile or from inside a conversation, and anybody can write to safety@velvetrope.us or violations@velvetrope.us. Suspension closes an account and erases every conversation it was part of, for both sides, the moment it is applied. The Acceptable Use Policy prohibits any use of the service by a person under 18, and prohibits child sexual abuse material outright, with reporting to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children CyberTipline under our Law Enforcement Request Protocols.
The controls this club operates against a profile made without the consent of the person it shows, and against imagery published without the consent of the person in it, are set out in full at velvetrope.us/compliance/non-consensual.