Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
GOOGLE IS CONSIDERING adding features to its services that would allow children under 13 to sign up and create accounts.
According to a report from The Information, the company is planning to launch a service that will cater to children.
Some of the features that will be included are a child-friendly version of YouTube, suited to tablets and allowing parents to control content, as well as an online dashboard that will allow parents to keep tabs on their kids’ activity while they’re surfing the web.
Ultimately, parents will be allowed to control content and what information is collected about their children. The company’s plans are partly driven by the fact that some parents are already trying to sign their kids up to its services, and it wants to make the process easier and compliant with the rules.
Accounts on Google and many social websites aren’t offered to children, although policing it is difficult as there’s no way to ensure that someone is completely honest about their age.
The issue that Google will face will be the many privacy laws that concern how companies collect information about children. Strict rules are imposed, parents must offer consent and how that data can be used for advertising is tightly controlled.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
I wasn’t too impressed with their “Bomb Gaza ” game; as a parent I was horrified actually !
I know – the graphics on it were terrible.
Google made that game?
They made it available …Here’s a question that might help you understand ; Do heroin dealers grow poppies in Afghanistan ?
I got a nasty letter from the bank last week.
I was none too impressed with the basstarding postman
But you said “their” game.
It’s not their game. It’s someone else’s.
Sorry Cpm , when I buy my shopping I tend to hold the shopkeeper somewhat responsible for insuring the quality … but that’s just me …you are obviously a bit different …cool !
Is your postman paying taxes and going around shooting people for money Gaggsy ?
Not enough postmen both pay tax & shoot people…… Its pretty niche.
“Sorry Cpm , when I buy my shopping I tend to hold the shopkeeper somewhat responsible for insuring the quality … but that’s just me …you are obviously a bit different …cool !”
I see…
So you do you hold Google responsible for anything you purchase which you’ve found using their search engine? Do you hold them responsible for anything you purchase after you’ve clicked one of their Adword ads?
Do you not think you’d be better off holding yourself responsible, as a parent, for what your kids see and install on their phones, instead of expecting on someone else to do the job for you? Google aren’t responsible for babysitting kids, and over-sensitive parents.
“Is your postman paying taxes and going around shooting people for money Gaggsy ?”
Jaysus, I hadn’t suspected so but I do now! His eyes are quite close together now that you mention it.
Are google also paying taxes and shooting people for money? The dirty hoors (for the shooting people, not for the tax paying). If they are they should reconsider their “Do no evil” slogan. And I’ll rewatch the Internship in a new light after this.
The things you learn on the internet.
Thanks!
So smartasses – if was such a good idea then why did they remove it …which begs the question why did they put it there in the first place – Google apps store I believe – if I am wrong I would contact Google and apologise – but I tried to contact Google some time ago – and guess what – very hard to contact them for some reason !
You probably need to get yourself an iPhone, Dermot.
I still don’t get the ‘paying taxes and going around shooting people for money” reference/analogy.
One of these is a good thing and one is a really really terrible thing. Throw my postman into the mix and now I am nothing but perplexed.
The tax-compliant double-jobbing postman/hitman is a rather unusual concept, it has to be said.
But the real OUTRAGE lies in them upsetting Dermot (as a parent).
sorry gagsy – I was referencing the heroin dealers in the analogy …..
Is thirteen the upper or lower age limit for children?
Will parents be enabled to control what their children will be doing on the Internet?
Probably not.
Maybe it is progress!
have your say