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Google said it plans additional privacy measures to protect young users on YouTube and its search engine, and has become the latest tech giant to adopt stricter standards in the face of criticism that companies are not doing enough to protect children.
In blog post On Tuesday, Google announced that videos uploaded to YouTube by users aged 13-17 will be private by default, allowing content to be viewed only by users and individuals it designates.
The company also said it will begin allowing anyone under the age of 18 or a parent or guardian to request that images of these minors be removed from Google Image search results. Given Google’s reluctance to remove past items from search results, it’s unclear whether this process will be easy and responsive.
Also, Google said it will turn off location history for all users under the age of 18 and remove the option to turn it back on.
The company plans to roll out the changes “in the coming weeks.”
There is growing bipartisan support in Washington to pressure tech companies to do more to protect children. In the last few months, two pieces of legislation, one in the House and one in the Senate, have been trying to update the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. The 1998 law, known as COPPA, restricts tracking and targeting of children under the age of 13, and the bills will extend these protections to young people.
owned by Google faced with repeated scrutiny on the processing of data relating to children. accepted in 2019 pay a $170 million fine To violate COPPA by collecting children’s data without parental consent.
Google’s announcement comes right after Changes announced by Facebook last month To protect young users on Instagram. Between advertising and privacy policy changes, Instagram said accounts created by children under the age of 16 will be made private by default.
Both Facebook and Google said they limit marketers’ ability to target youth with ads in slightly different ways. Facebook states that advertisers can only target under-18s based on their age, gender, and location, and not their interests or activity on other apps and websites.
Google said it will block personalized ads based on age, gender or interests to people under the age of 18. It will still allow contextual ads, such as a person’s search requests.
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