Google Launches Various Features To Protect Teenagers And Children

Users of children and adolescents will be increasingly protected by Google. (photo: Thomas Park/unsplash)

JAKARTA - Google has announced several new features and security measures for teens to make the internet a safer place for them.

The company plans to introduce a number of new features and changes to its various services in the coming weeks that will affect children under 18. This change will affect Google Search, YouTube, YouTube Kids, Google Play, and more.

Google will be starting a new policy in the coming weeks that will allow anyone under 18 or their parent/guardian to remove their photos from Google Image searches.

This tool will only remove photos from Google Search and not the original website where they were listed. Nonetheless, Google believes this option will give children under 18 some control over their images posted online.

Google turns on Safe Search by default for users who are under the age of 18. It will also be enabled by default for teens who are now signing up for a new Google account.

Various settings regarding Google Accounts for people under 18 are also being changed as part of this change. For YouTube, the default upload setting is changed to private for teens aged 13-17. This means that any content that teens upload can only be seen by the people they decide to share it with.

In addition, digital health features such as bedtime and rest reminders are enabled by default for children aged 13-17.

In YouTube Kids, a new autoplay option will be added, although it will be disabled by default. Google also plans to add new parental control options to YouTube Kids in the coming months, such as the option to lock the default autoplay settings and more.

In its announcement in The Keyword, Google highlighted that it is changing the way it handles commercial content on YouTube Kids. It will no longer allow paid product placement on YouTube Kids and remove "overly commercial content from YouTube Kids" that encourages kids to spend money.

Below are some of the other changes coming to Google accounts and various Google services that will affect users under the age of 18:

Going forward, Google will prevent adult content from appearing on shared devices in the Google Assistant by enabling the Safe Search filter in smart display web browsers.

The option to enable Location History on Google accounts of people under the age of 18 will also be revoked. Location History was turned off by default in new Google accounts, but Google is now removing the option to enable it altogether.

A new security section will be added to Google Play to make it easier for parents to know which apps comply with the Family policy. App developers will also be asked to provide more information about what they do with the data collected.

K-12 institutions using Google Workspace for Education will now enable Safe Search by default. The option to switch to Incognito or Guest mode will also be disabled.

New digital wellbeing filters will be added to block news, podcasts and access to certain web pages on smart screens.

This change from Google is a step in the right direction. This will protect children from exposure to adult and commercial content and also protect their privacy.