Google announces new teen-supervision features for parents

Google to roll out teen-specific parental control features

Google has announced new teen supervision features on YouTube and Family Link for parents. The teen supervision features will arrive via a Google update later in the summer, the tech giant announced in a blog post. The new parental control features will launch on YouTube and Google’s Family Link service.

Teenagers and their parents will be able to link their YouTube accounts

Google's upcoming teen supervision-specific update for YouTube will make it possible for teenagers and their parents to link their accounts. Once the parents get access to their teenager’s YouTube account, they can check on their activities on YouTube.

Google said that its recently introduced new safeguards limit the recommendations of videos “with content that could be problematic, especially for teens, if viewed in repetition – such as content related to body image”.

For now, Google has a few default safety settings in place for those under 18 years of age like SafeSearch, content restrictions and the ability to turn off autoplay on YouTube.

Supervision for all ages to be enabled in Google’s Family Link

The upcoming Google update will also allow supervision to be enabled for all ages in the Family Link parental control portal. Parents can then check in on the apps, products and experiences their teens use and monitor their online activity. The new teen-specific update will also allow parents to set screen time limits and location sharing for their kids.

In the blog post, Google claimed that it is “continuously investing in research and development to address the evolving needs of parents and children.” The tech giant said that it’s been “working closely with experts in child development, education and technology” to help “shape a future where technology continues to facilitate learning and exploration”.