● Covered by 1 source · 2 reportsMedium impact2 negative
AI Actress Tilly Norwood's "Talking Tilly" Service Requires Face Scan and Emotional Monitoring
Key points
- "Talking Tilly" service requires a face scan for age verification.
- The system monitors user camera feed and tone of voice for emotional state.
- These features cannot be switched off and rely on "legitimate interests" for legal basis.
- Calls are recorded, transcribed, and processed by US providers using Google's Gemini model.
- AI actress Tilly Norwood glitched and spoke Chinese on Piers Morgan Uncensored.
- Tilly Norwood stars in the upcoming AI-generated film Misaligned.
- Didit, a Spain-based provider, analyzes video selfies for age verification.
- Government photo ID upload is a fallback for unclear age estimates.
- Xicoia Ltd, a UK company, is behind Tilly.
- The selfie travels directly to Didit; no faceprint or biometric template is created.
- Neither the selfie nor ID image is kept after the check.
- The company retains an approximate age band and a reference number.
- The age check applies to callers worldwide.
Mandatory Face Scan for Age Verification
The "Talking Tilly" service, offered by Xicoia Ltd, now mandates a face scan for age verification before users can connect to a video call. This process uses Didit, a Spanish identity verification provider, to estimate age from a video selfie. If the estimate is unclear, a government photo ID upload is required as a fallback. Xicoia Ltd states that no faceprint or biometric template is created, and images are not retained after the check, only an approximate age band and reference number.
Continuous Emotional Monitoring During Calls
Beyond the initial age verification, the service continuously analyzes the user's camera feed and tone of voice during every call to infer emotional state. This data is used to allow the AI character to respond in a mood-appropriate manner. The privacy policy explicitly states that this emotional monitoring cannot be disabled for individual calls.
Legal Basis and Data Processing
Both the age verification and emotional monitoring features rely on "legitimate interests" as their legal basis, rather than explicit user consent. This change was implemented in September. All calls are recorded, transcribed, and processed live by US providers, with the AI character's responses generated by Google's Gemini model via the conversational video platform Tavus.
Automated Safety Systems and False Positives
The service includes automated safety systems that screen call transcripts for abusive language. If flagged, the recording is withheld. One instance involved a conversation about weather and news being incorrectly flagged for "hateful or abusive language." While human review can release wrongly flagged recordings, all recordings are permanently deleted after 24 hours.
Updates
- AI actress Tilly Norwood glitched and spoke Chinese on Piers Morgan Uncensored.
- Tilly Norwood stars in the upcoming AI-generated film Misaligned.
- Didit, a Spain-based provider, analyzes video selfies for age verification.
- Government photo ID upload is a fallback for unclear age estimates.
- Xicoia Ltd, a UK company, is behind Tilly.
- The selfie travels directly to Didit; no faceprint or biometric template is created.
- Neither the selfie nor ID image is kept after the check.
- The company retains an approximate age band and a reference number.
- The age check applies to callers worldwide.
✨ This summary was generated by AI from the outlets' reporting listed below. It is not independently verified and may contain errors — check the original sources. How BrevFeed works →
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How outlets covered it
The "Talking Tilly" AI character service, which allows video calls with an AI actress, implements mandatory face-scanning for age verification and continuous mood detection during calls. These features, added recently to the service's terms, operate without user consent as their legal basis and raise privacy concerns regarding biometric data and emotional surveillance.
The "Talking Tilly" service, which allows users to video call the AI actress Tilly Norwood, now requires a face scan for age verification and continuously monitors user emotions during calls. These requirements, added this month, raise privacy concerns as they cannot be opted out of and rely on "legitimate interests" rather than user consent.