An Avatar Leaves Records
Talking Tilly is off air. Its current notice, effective 17 September 2026 (publication time unspecified), scheduled closure for 11:59 PM Pacific Daylight Time on 27 September 2026. Selfies assessed age before first calls; unclear results required photographic identification. It promised deletion of checking images, retaining no identifying templates. For ages below 18, only identifier, outcome and date remained until closure. Calls processed picture, sound, dialogue, transcripts, memory, session particulars and inferred mood across international providers. Operator statements are not independent verification. Records excluding dialogue and activity measurements can remain for at most eighteen months.
Age estimation differs from recognising an identity. The ICO's independent guidance distinguishes classification from identification and calls for necessary, proportionate checks, supplier assurance and ways to challenge mistakes. That guidance is under review; it does not certify this service's compliance.
A 2019 scientific review found that facial movements vary with culture, circumstances and individuals; they do not reliably reveal one particular feeling. A mood label establishes neither a clinical diagnosis nor verified knowledge of somebody's feelings. The review predates this service and does not test it.
Questions
- Distinguish mandatory age checking from optional personalisation.
- Identify every processor, destination and transfer safeguard.
- Establish legal, backup and processor retention beyond closure.
- Provide accessible tools to inspect and delete conversational memory.
- Explain mood inference's effects on responses, safety, profiling and future content.
- Verify deletion through processor controls and logs.
Familiar characters can encourage disclosure while several systems accumulate it.
