Google is committed to building products that are secure by default, private by design, and that put people in control. And while their policies don’t allow kids under 13 to create a standard Google account, they’ve worked hard to design enriching product experiences specifically for kids, teens, and families.

Through Family Link, Google allows parents to set up supervised accounts for their children, set screen time limits, and more. Google’s Be Internet Awesome digital literacy program helps kids learn how to be safe and engaged digital citizens; and has a dedicated YouTube Kids app, Kids Space, and teacher-approved apps in Play that offer experiences that are customised for younger audiences. 

Technology has helped kids and teens during the pandemic stay in school through lockdowns and maintain connections with family and friends. As kids and teens spend more time online, parents, educators, child safety and privacy experts, and policy makers are rightly concerned about how to keep them safe. Google engages with these groups regularly and shares these concerns. 

Some countries are implementing regulations in this area, and as Google complies with these regulations, they’re looking at ways to develop consistent product experiences and user controls for kids and teens globally. 

1. Giving minors more control over their digital footprint

While Google already provides a range of removal options for people using Google Search, children are at particular risk when it comes to controlling their imagery on the internet. Soon, a new policy will be introduced that enables anyone under the age of 18, or their parent or guardian, to request the removal of their images from Google Image results.

Of course, removing an image from Search doesn’t remove it from the web, but this change will help give young people more control of their images online. 

2. Tailoring product experiences for kids and teens 

Some of Google’s most popular products help kids and teens explore their interests, learn more about the world, and connect with friends. They’re committed to constantly making these experiences safer for the kids. They’re going to make a number of changes to Google Accounts for people under 18 which includes:

• YouTube: To change the default upload setting to the most private option available for teens ages 13-17. In addition, Google will more prominently surface digital wellbeing features, and provide safeguards and education about commercial content. Learn more about these changes here. 

• Search: To have a range of systems, tools, and policies that are designed to help people discover content from across the web while not surprising them with mature content they haven’t searched for. One of the protections offered is SafeSearch, which helps filter out explicit results when enabled and is already on by default for all signed-in users under 13 who have accounts managed by Family Link. In the coming months, Google will turn SafeSearch on for existing signed-in users under 18 and make this the default setting for teens setting up new accounts. 

• Assistant: Always working to prevent mature content from surfacing during a child’s experience with Google Assistant on shared devices, and will be introducing new default protections. For example, will apply SafeSearch technology to the web browser on smart displays.

• Location History: Location History is a Google account setting that helps make these products more useful. It’s already off by default for all accounts, and children with supervised accounts don’t have the option of turning Location History on. Taking this a step further, Google will soon extend this to users under the age of 18 globally, meaning that Location History will remain off (without the option to turn it on).

• Play: Building on efforts like content ratings, and  “Teacher-approved apps” for quality kids’ content, Google is launching a new safety section that will let parents know which apps follow the Families’ policies. Apps will be required to disclose how they use the data they collect in greater detail, making it easier for parents to decide if the app is right for their child before they download it. 

• Google Workspace for Education: As recently announced, it is much easier for administrators to tailor experiences for their users based on age (such as restricting student activity on YouTube). And to make web browsing safer, countries with K-12 institutions will have SafeSearch technology enabled by default, while switching to Guest Mode and Incognito Mode for web browsing will be turned off by default.

3. New advertising changes

Expanding safeguards to prevent age-sensitive ad categories from being shown to teens and will block ad targeting based on the age, gender, or interests of people under 18. The goal is to ensure additional protections and delivering age-appropriate experiences for ads on Google are provided.

4. New digital wellbeing tools 

In Family Link, parents can set screen time limits and reminders for their kids’ supervised devices. And, on Assistant-enabled smart devices, parents are given control through Digital Wellbeing tools available in the Google Home app. Soon, new Digital Wellbeing filters that allow people to block news, podcasts, and access to web pages on Assistant-enabled smart devices will be rolled out.

On YouTube, there’ll be ‘take a break’ and bedtime reminders and turn off autoplay for users under 18. And, on YouTube Kids, there will be an autoplay option and turn it off by default to empower parents to make the right choice for their families. 

5. Improving on how to communicate Google’s data practices to kids and teens

Data plays an important role in making these products functional and helpful. It’s to make it easy for kids and teens to understand what data is being collected, why, and how it is used. Based on research, developing engaging, easy-to-understand materials for young people and their parents to help them better understand the data practices are needed. These resources will begin to roll out globally in the coming months. 

6. Ongoing work to develop age assured product experiences

Google regularly engage with kids and teens, parents, governments, industry leaders, and experts in the fields of privacy, child safety, wellbeing and education to design better, safer products for kids and teens. Having an accurate age for a user can be an important element in providing experiences tailored to their needs.

Yet, knowing the accurate age for users across multiple products and surfaces, while at the same time respecting their privacy and ensuring the services remain accessible, is a complex challenge. It will require input from regulators, lawmakers, industry bodies, technology providers, and others to address it and to ensure that Google is building a safer internet for kids.