GOOGLE, YOUTUBE RELEASED NEW SAFETY FEATURES FOR KIDS

Wed 11 August 2021:

Google announced a series of online safety features for kids on Tuesday, including a private setting for teen videos and a protection for adverts broadcast to users under the age of 18.

The new features affect Google’s YouTube video platform as well as other online services such as search and Google Assistant, and come amid increased concerns about online child abuse and safety at a time when internet usage is increasing due to the global epidemic.

“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,” said Google product and user experience director Mindy Brooks.

“We engage with these groups regularly, and share these concerns.”

Google’s “safe search” — which excludes sensitive or mature content — will be the default setting for users under 18, which up to now had been the case only for under-13 users.

On the massively popular YouTube platform, content from 13- to 17-year-olds will be private by default, the tech giant said.

“With private uploads, content can only be seen by the user and whomever they choose,” said a blog post by James Beser, head of product management for YouTube Kids and Family.

“We want to help younger users make informed decisions about their online footprint and digital privacy… If the user would like to make their content public, they can change the default upload visibility setting and we’ll provide reminders indicating who can see their video.”

Families will be able to request that Google remove their child’s images from image search requests more easily.

“Of course, removing an image from search doesn’t remove it from the web, but we believe this change will help give young people more control of their images online,” Brooks said.

Google will turn off location history for all users under the age of 18 globally, with no choice to turn it back on. For individuals under the age of 13, this is already in place.

Google will also make changes in how it shows ads to minors, blocking any “age-sensitive” categories and banning targeting based on the age, gender or interests of people under 18.

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