Google Starts Testing Age Estimation Technology in the US

Google is trialing a new age estimation technology in the US to identify people using its products who may be under 18. When the company’s estimation model guesses that a user in the US might be younger than 18, they’ll be notified by email and automatically get age-appropriate protections on their account.

The company’s “age assurance” technology utilizes machine learning to identify users who may be minors based on their actions across Google products, such as Search and YouTube. Google said that it has already tested this approach in select markets “where it’s worked well,” and the company will now extend the experiment with “a small set of users in the US.”

“Our age estimation model uses machine learning to interpret a variety of signals already associated with a user’s account, such as the types of information a user has searched for or the categories of videos they’ve watched on YouTube. These signals help us determine whether a user is likely over or under the age of 18,” the company explained.

Users identified as being under 18 by Google’s age verification technology will automatically receive safeguards on content recommendations on YouTube and digital wellbeing tools, such as reminders to take a break. The rest of Google’s age-appropriate protections on other Google products include disabling Timeline in Maps, personalized advertising in Search, and blocking access to apps restricted to adults on Google Play.

If Google’s age assurance technology mistakenly estimates users to be under 18, they will still be able to correct their age to remove the age-appropriate protections on their accounts. This will be possible by submitting a selfie or a picture of their government ID.