Google Will Introduce Child-Friendly Services

[ALAN30]

The company seems to be developing versions of video streaming and e-mail services suitable for children under 13. The tech giant was reported to be developing a new version of its products designed specifically for children. Part of the move is creating a child-friendly YouTube and Gmail which would for the first time allow children under 13 to sign up.

Google seems to be very sensitive to the fact that many people don’t allow their children on YouTube. Apparently, parents are afraid that their children will watch X-rated pop videos or read expletive-laden comments. The company revealed that a new child-friendly version could feature a Google dashboard to provide parents greater control over what their kids are doing on the Internet.

At the moment, Google made no official statement about its developments. In the meantime, the US advocacy group Centre for Digital Democracy believes that such children-friendly services could invade the privacy of millions of children unless designed properly.

For example, in the United Kingdom, the acting director of Big Brother Watch admitted that it was only a matter of time that tech companies started to target their products at younger population. Everyone knows that children are immensely susceptible to advertising and therefore represent a huge untapped source of revenue for the tech giants.

It was also said that it should be imperative that Google or any other company, which directly targets products at younger users, ensures that privacy safeguards are automatically enforced in order to make sure that both parents and children understand what information will be collected, analyzed and used. Otherwise, the companies will run a risk to lose both the parents and children as future users of their service – this is a nightmare for any company in the modern world.