Google is activating more of its privacy protections by default for young people using its services. SafeSearch, which filters out explicit results on Google Search, will be activated for anyone under 18, and Location history turned off permanently on Google accounts for under-18s. YouTube also will see more privacy protections activated automatically, including restrictions on uploads by teens and commercial content on YouTube Kids.
The changes come amid increasing pressure from parents, regulators and politicians for internet companies to do more to protect young people online. Facebook also recently announced plans to scale back advertising directed at kids on its platforms, and Google said the next version of Android will restrict the use of children's personal data for advertising.
The changes to Google's services will be implemented in the coming weeks and months. The company said it's also working on providing easy-to-understand information to kids and parents about its data policies and 'Digital Wellbeing' tools, and will be introducing the new safety section on the Play store with information about other apps and their privacy policies.
Private uploads and no autoplay on YouTube
On YouTube, autoplay will be turned off by default for YouTube users aged 13-17, and 'take a break' and 'bedtime' reminders will be turned on automatically. In addition, the default upload setting will be set to the most private option available for users aged 13-17 on YouTube. With private uploads, content can only be seen by the user and whomever they choose. This should raise awareness among teens about the need to protect their privacy and make a conscious choice about who to share with, the company said.
It's also adding an autoplay option on YouTube Kids and turning autoplay off by default in the app. In the coming months, additional parental controls will be introduced in the YouTube Kids app, including the ability for a parent to choose a "locked" default autoplay setting.
Less advertising to kids
There will also be less overtly commercial content in YouTube Kids. The company already bans paid product placements and in the coming weeks will begin to remove overly commercial content from YouTube Kids, such as a video that only focuses on product packaging or directly encourages children to spend money.
Users may still change their default settings after the update. On YouTube, Google recently updated the disclosures that appear on "made for kids" content or supervised accounts on YouTube when a creator identifies that their video contains paid promotions. YouTube also provides a parent guide that suggests ways for parents to help children understand content they may see on YouTube.
On Google search, the SafeSearch feature is already on by default for all signed-in users under 13 who have accounts managed by Family Link. In the coming months, SafeSearch will be turned on for existing users under 18 and become the default setting for teens setting up new accounts. The default settings will also be extended to Google Assistant on shared devices.
Google said it also plans to expand safeguards to prevent age-sensitive ad categories from being shown to teens, and it will block ad targeting based on the age, gender, or interests of people under 18.
