Google on Wednesday announced A series of updates for its parent control program Google Family Link and a plan to test new machine-learning techniques to evaluate users’ ages so that it can apply more appropriate experiences to children.
The company earlier said it will be used soon Machine learning to determine the age of YouTube users For better recommendations, but Google tells Techcrunch that it will also test this feature at the Google Account level. This means that it is applicable through Google products, including but not limited to YouTube.
These trials of the Old Rating Model will start in the United States sometime this year and expand to more countries over time. Other social media such as how Facebook,, Instagramand TiktokAlready used age evaluation and control technologies.
Meanwhile, the family control of Google’s parents’ family also gets some improvements. The app is designed to allow parents or guards to restrict children’s access to content and control various privacy and security settings through a range of services, including Google Search, photos, assistant, YouTube, Chrome, and more.
Now, Family Link is updated to include tools to manage children’s screen time through their Android and Chrome devices, at the same time helping children stay focused at school.
A new feature called school time will start rolling next week to Android phones and tablets, leaving parents “automatically limit or adjust” the child’s device for certain hours, as well as restricting access to some programs.
Later, parents will also be able to add contacts to their child’s device and then set up controls to restrict the child only to be able to call or text those approved contacts. This could be useful when you give phones to younger children who may need to be able to call mom or dad or grandparents, but not to others.
Google says this addition will start rolling in March.
Kids with Android devices will be able to pay in-store using Google Wallet sometime later this spring. Google says parents of controlled Android users under the age of consent will be able to add a payment card to their child’s Google Wallet so that the kids can use a tap and pay. Parents will also be able to approve new cards, remove cards, add gift cards and tickets to their child’s wallet and see the child’s transaction history.
Teenagers will be able to access more AI-powered functions later this year, including ”Learn about“Generative AI-operated tool that offers interactive learning experiences and the AI research assistant Notebook lm. These join the AI functions already offer teens, such as AI -overlapping in Google Search, Ai Chatbot Gemini, and Circle to search.
Under the threat of stricter regulations in the United States and abroad, Google and other technology giants have begun to introduce additional securities and privacy functions for minors. In the case of Google, it began default under-18 users to its security filter, restrictive sensitive ads, old content on YouTube, and more.
