An update on how we strive to protect, respect and empower young people online, including a new Google.org commitment of €5M to help teens build media literacy for AI.
Today, we're announcing a 5 euro commitment to support NGOs in Europe and hosting a summit focused on internet safety for children.
We’ve dedicated the last several years to creating products and services that have families in mind. Our goal is to allow kids of all ages to explore the best of what technology has to offer, in a safer way. We respect that each family’s relationship with technology is unique, so we want to give parents the tools and flexibility they need to find the right balance for their families — while also delivering more age-appropriate experiences.
Today, we're updating Family Link and Google TV with experiences for parents and kids alike, to help families build healthy, positive digital habits together.
Over the last five years, the Family Link app on Android and iOS have been helping families stay safer online. Whether it’s with your child’s first Android phone or exploring content on YouTube and Google TV, we’ve provided parents with the tools to set screen time limits and guide children to age-appropriate content.
Based on parents’ feedback, we redesigned Family Link to bring our tools to the forefront and make them easier to use. Across the Controls, Location and Highlights tabs, you’ll find new experiences like “Today Only” screen time limits, alerts for when your children arrive and leave a location and recommended content from trusted partners around online safety.
For easier access, parents and their children can also access Family Link online in a new web experience. Stay tuned for these changes to start rolling out today and complete over the next few weeks.
Google TV is an entertainment experience made for the whole family and its kids profiles are easy to use for kids of all ages. With the addition of managed watchlists, Google-powered kids recommendations and supervised accounts on YouTube, Google TV’s kids profiles just got even more helpful.
Bringing recommendations and watchlists to kids profiles makes it easier to find the perfect shows and movies. Kids can easily browse top entertainment from their approved apps, and you can build a “must watch” list just for them from their TV and mobile device. And for parents with older kids who are ready to move on from YouTube Kids, their tweens can now use a supervised Google Account to start exploring YouTube on their Google TV kids profile. These updates will also start rolling out today and complete over the next few weeks.
Regardless of the brand or device, we believe you should be able to benefit from the same quality experiences. Whether it’s for entertainment on Google TV or to help guide your child’s online experience with Family Link, we hope you’ll check out and enjoy these new updates on your devices.
We're committed to building products that are secure by default, private by design, and that put people in control. And while our policies don’t allow kids under 13 to create a standard Google account, we’ve worked hard to design enriching product experiences specifically for them, teens, and families. Through Family Link, we allow parents to set up supervised accounts for their children, set screen time limits, and more. Our Be Internet Awesome digital literacy program helps kids learn how to be safe and engaged digital citizens; and our dedicated YouTube Kids app, Kids Space andteacher approved apps in Play offer experiences that are customized for younger audiences.
Technology has helped kids and teens during the pandemic stay in school through lockdowns and maintain connections with family and friends. As kids and teens spend more time online, parents, educators, child safety and privacy experts, and policy makers are rightly concerned about how to keep them safe. We engage with these groups regularly, and share these concerns.
Some countries are implementing regulations in this area, and as we comply with these regulations, we’re looking at ways to develop consistent product experiences and user controls for kids and teens globally. Today, we’re announcing a variety of new policies and updates.
While we already provide a range of removal options for people using Google Search, children are at particular risk when it comes to controlling their imagery on the internet. In the coming weeks, we’ll introduce a new policy that enables anyone under the age of 18, or their parent or guardian, to request the removal of their images from Google Image results. Of course, removing an image from Search doesn’t remove it from the web, but we believe this change will help give young people more control of their images online.
Some of our most popular products help kids and teens explore their interests, learn more about the world, and connect with friends. We’re committed to constantly making these experiences safer for them. That’s why in the coming weeks and months we're going to make a number of changes to Google Accounts for people under 18:
https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/new-safety-and-digital-wellbeing-options-younger-people-youtube-and-youtube-kids/
.We’ll be expanding safeguards to prevent age-sensitive ad categories from being shown to teens, and we will block ad targeting based on the age, gender, or interests of people under 18. We’ll start rolling out these updates across our products globally over the coming months. Our goal is to ensure we’re providing additional protections and delivering age-appropriate experiences for ads on Google.
In Family Link, parents can set screen time limits and reminders for their kids’ supervised devices. And, on Assistant-enabled smart devices, we give parents control through Digital Wellbeing tools available in the Google Home app. In the coming months, we’ll roll out new Digital Wellbeing filters that allow people to block news, podcasts, and access to webpages on Assistant-enabled smart devices.
On YouTube, we’ll turn on take a break and bedtime reminders and turn off autoplay for users under 18. And, on YouTube Kids we’ll add an autoplay option and turn it off by default to empower parents to make the right choice for their families.
Data plays an important role in making our products functional and helpful. It’s our job to make it easy for kids and teens to understand what data is being collected, why, and how it is used. Based on research, we’re developing engaging, easy-to-understand materials for young people and their parents to help them better understand our data practices. These resources will begin to roll out globally in the coming months.
Transparency Resources: The Family Link Privacy Guide for Children and Teens and the Teen Privacy Guide
We regularly engage with kids and teens, parents, governments, industry leaders, and experts in the fields of privacy, child safety, wellbeing and education to design better, safer products for kids and teens. Having an accurate age for a user can be an important element in providing experiences tailored to their needs. Yet, knowing the accurate age of our users across multiple products and surfaces, while at the same time respecting their privacy and ensuring that our services remain accessible, is a complex challenge. It will require input from regulators, lawmakers, industry bodies, technology providers, and others to address it – and to ensure that we all build a safer internet for kids.
We’ve heard from parents, educators and experts on ways to make technology safer for kids, and we continue to incorporate that feedback into our products. Whether it’s helping them find quality content, working to protect them from online harm or teaching them how to be good digital citizens, we’re committed to building family-friendly tools to help kids safely and confidently explore the online world.
Four years ago, we launched Be Internet Awesome as a program to help educators and parents teach kids the fundamentals of digital safety and citizenship. Since then, it’s expanded to more than 30 countries in 16 languages and has helped millions of kids around the world make safer, more informed decisions online. It's important to teach kids how to use the internet effectively, as family technology use in and outside of the classroom continues to grow -- and we’re constantly looking for ways to make Be Internet Awesome even better.
To ensure Be Internet Awesome helps students comprehend online safety and digital citizenship concepts, we commissioned the University of New Hampshire’s Crimes Against Children Research Center to do a rigorous independent evaluation of our program. The researchers learned that students who went through the Be Internet Awesome program improved their comprehension in areas such as being civil online, understanding which websites are safe and responding more confidently to cyberbullying. The research also recommended opportunities where kids could benefit from more guidance, which we’ve used to update our curriculum.
In partnership with online safety experts like Committee for Children and The Net Safety Collaborative, we’ve significantly expanded the Be Internet Awesome program, including 11 new lessons and more educator and family resources. We’ve developed content tailored to specific age groups and grade levels, included more guidance around online gaming, search engines and video consumption and added social-emotional learning lessons to help students address cyberbullying and online harassment. The program also provides an array of resources for families to help discuss online safety at home. We hope the updated curriculum gives educators and parents an even more helpful tool to teach kids about these important topics.
Building on our digital safety and citizenship work, we’ve also created more tools and resources to help kids explore the world of online video. For example, on YouTube, we introduced supervised experiences to give parents more choice over content settings and features, including special options for tweens and teens. We’ve also developed a comprehensive family guide and PSA videos as useful starting points for kids and families to learn how to browse and watch video content responsibly.
To help kids stay informed about what they’re seeing on YouTube, including content with commercial elements, we recently launched a new disclosure feature for all content that a creator has notified us contains paid promotions, when that content is “made for kids” or being viewed on a supervised account. This disclosure appears in easy-to-understand text on the left hand corner of the screen and links to a new family-friendly video and help center article to provide additional information.
We’ve also created more resources to help families determine how to approach kids’ technology use. Earlier this year, we launched families.google, a one-stop technology hub that includes tips and tools about how to manage tech for your family. In addition, we introduced updates to the Family Link app that lets you set digital ground rules as kids learn, play and explore online. You can now enable your kids to spend time with apps you approve of by designating them as “always allowed,” and see added details via daily, weekly and monthly activity reports. All of this work is designed to equip parents and their kids with the resources they need to foster a healthy relationship with technology in the digital age.
We want parents and kids to have the tools they need to explore the internet confidently. We are committed to helping protect children online and will continue to share information about our ongoing work in this area.
Note: The University of New Hampshire’s study used a rigorous cluster randomized controlled trial (CRCT) evaluation methodology. Fourteen elementary schools across the U.S. were randomly assigned to either an intervention condition (Be Internet Awesome implementation) or a control condition (no or delayed Be Internet Awesome implementation). The full paper is currently under peer review.
Last year, parents were forced to quickly adapt when schools, daycares and eventually summer camps closed. Almost immediately, many kids turned to online services for education and entertainment.
We want to provide a new website with helpful resources for families raising kids in a digital world during this challenging moment. So we decided to look at last year’s top Google Search trends related to digital parenting, and also surveyed more than 2,000 parents with kids under 13 in the U.S. Here’s what we found:
In the coming weeks, we’ll be releasing a full report on kids, families and technology that we’ve developed with the Family Online Safety Institute. In the meantime, you can check out a few of our new resources and tools families.
Methodology: Findings are based on results of online surveys conducted by Suzy. Wave 1 was conducted in January 2021; wave 2 was conducted in February 2021. The online surveys were conducted among n=2000 respondents. The sample was nationally representative as it relates to age, gender, household income, race/ethnicity and region. All respondents of the sample consisted of parents with at least one child under 13 living with them.
As the first generation of parents raising children surrounded by technology, you’ve told us that you need resources to help make it work -- from setting up their first device, to learning about popular apps and services.
Our goal has always been to help families foster a healthy relationship with technology. We’ve given parents a way to help their kids have a safer online experience with Family Link’s parental controls. We’ve also made it easier to find quality content with teacher-approved apps in Google Play, a kids’ tablet experience with Google Kids Space and kids profiles on Google TV.
And today, we’re sharing more resources, tools and content. First, we’re introducing families.google, a website with resources for your family as your kids begin using technology. We’re also sharing a few Family Link updates and launching a content series with Headspace for practicing mindfulness together.
Over the last year, we’ve listened to your feedback as well as key learnings from commissioned research and what’s trending in Google Search. With families.google, you’ll have a one-stop technology resource.
The website has detailed guides that spell out how to approach your kids’ technology use from organizations like Common Sense Media, ConnectSafely, Family Online Safety Institute, Headspace, PBS KIDS and Sesame Workshop. Alongside overviews of our kids and families products, you can also catch up on the latest apps and services and find helpful information on parental controls across the web. You’ll also see tips on how to manage online safety and digital wellbeing as well as fun online activities for families and tools for the classroom.
Our parental controls have always helped you manage how your children spend time on their Android and Chromebook devices, with functions like screen time limits, the ability to hide apps and more. But parents are increasingly focused on how kids use devices and less on how much, so we’re adding some of your most requested features to Family Link.
You can now encourage your kids to spend more time with apps you approve of by designating them as “always allowed,” even when their screen time limit is up. For example, if your child needs certain apps for remote learning, they can be marked as “always allowed” so they won’t be counted toward their daily screen time limit.
Plus, you can now see added details to daily, weekly and monthly activity reports. This gives you an overview of how your child is spending their time in apps, how it changes over a week or month and what portion of time was spent in “always allowed” apps.
If you’re using the Family Link Android app, the teacher-recommended app card now has suggestions from a catalog of thousands of teacher-approved Google Play apps for kids under 13 in the U.S. You can select an app and download it directly to your child’s device. And to make sure their Android phone doesn’t run out of juice, the Family Link Android app helps you see their device’s battery life.
Finally, we’ve heard that sometimes it's easier to manage parental controls directly on your child's device rather than from your own. In the Android Settings for parental controls, you can now set screen time limits right from your child’s device.
This last year, 3 in 5 parents allowed increased screen time for their kids, and we also saw Google searches like “fun at home activities for kids” and “mindfulness for kids” skyrocket. That’s why we’re working with Headspace to create content that helps families practice mindfulness and wellbeing. Over the next month, an episode from the new Headspace Breathers series will debut weekly on YouTube and YouTube Kids.
All of these resources and Family Link features are rolling out over the coming weeks.
As the holidays approach and hopefully bring some much-deserved rest, I've been reflecting on the things we built this year to help families.
We launched teacher-approved apps on Google Play and Kids Space on tablets, both of which help parents and kids find quality content to help them learn, play and grow. We also launched family mode on Duo to keep kids entertained while on video calls with loved ones. And we introduced a host of smart home features for back-to-schoolseason. But the year isn’t quite over—Google Assistant and Google Fi are closing out 2020 with a few new tools for families.
Families turn to Google Assistant for help each day—particularly on Nest Hub Max and other Smart Displays. And just in time for the holidays, we’re adding new features that make it easier to stay on track, entertained and connected with the people they love. With new Family Notes starting to roll out today, you can create digital sticky notes to centralize chores and to-dos so everyone stays on track. Just say, “Hey Google, leave a family note that says defrost the pie,” or “Hey Google, leave a family note that says we’re out of wrapping paper.”
Family Bell has become a popular way to keep organized throughout the day. And now we’ve added new sound effects and suggested bells on smart speakers and Smart Displays, so your family can get scheduled reminders to start chores, unleash your creativity with art or enjoy quality time together. Simply create a bell by tapping on Family Bell in your Assistant settings, or say, “Hey Google, create a Family Bell.” In the coming weeks, we’ll also add the ability to pause your bells for a single day—or while you're enjoying time off from work or school.
If you’re looking for new activities to try together at home, try asking, “Hey Google, what can I learn with my family?” and choose from one of the learning activities shown on your Smart Display. With content from providers like ABCmouse, you’re sure to find something to enjoy. And be sure to ask, “Hey Google, tell me about the animal of the day” to hear fun facts about a new animal every day, listen to the sound each animal makes and try out the daily creative challenge, like drawing the animal in its natural habitat.
For families with kids under 13, parents should watch YouTube content together with their kids.
Plus, we’ve added a new “interactive” story category on Smart Displays and phones, so your favorite stories come to life when you say, “Hey Google, tell me a story.” With new interactive stories from Noggin, Capstone and more, you can now flip through pages, decide how the story unfolds, follow along word-by-word and enjoy animations.
To help families stay connected this holiday season, Assistant users aged 13 and above can now get an easy update on their family’s whereabouts with help from Life360 and Google Maps. Just ask, “Hey Google, where’s my family?” or ask for someone by name by saying, “Hey Google, where’s Mark?” This feature is now available on Google Assistant-enabled devices including smart speakers (like the new Nest Audio), Smart Displays and Android and iOS phones.
With their parent's permission, children under 13 (or the applicable age in their country) can have a personalized Google Assistant experience when they log in with their own account, powered by Family Link. And finally, to make it easier to find all of these new features, families will soon be able to quickly access these different tools in one central place within the new “Family” tab on Smart Displays. Keep an eye out as this starts to roll out later this year.
It’s important to be able to manage your household's tech use, no matter the time of year. During the holidays, your family might be on their phones playing and staying connected with loved ones more than usual. To help everyone stay safer on their phones and build healthy digital habits, Google Fi is rolling out new family features over the next week. These features come included with all Fi plans at no extra cost.
On Fi, you can block strangers from calling and texting your child on their Android phone by only allowing saved and recent contacts to reach them.
You can also set a data budget to decide how much data your child can use before it slows down. This not only helps your family practice healthy tech use, but also makes it easier to manage how much you spend on data each month if you’re on the Fi Flexible plan and only pay for the data you use. Being on the Flexible plan can help you reduce your monthly expenses even more if your family spends a lot of time on home Wi-Fi.
We’ve also made it easier to set up Family Link from the Fi app on your child’s Android phone. With Family Link, you can establish digital ground rules like set content filters, limit screen time and manage app downloads.
You can learn more about Google Fi family features on the Fi website. If you’re getting started, you can bring a phone you already own or get a new phone on Fi that fits your budget. Currently, Fi is offering a free Moto G phone after $100 off and up to $199 in Fi credit when you join or add a member to your group plan.
We hope you’ll find these tools useful as the year winds down. Staying connected and creating healthy tech habits are both important, and we’re happy to be a part of helping your family do both over the holidays.
