As States Require Age Verification Google Tests Verification Strategy

In light of the Supreme Court saying that it it not invasive for web sites to collect your government ID to verify your age before letting you see their site, Google is trying a different, very interesting, tactic instead of requiring you to upload your government ID.

The problems with web sites collecting your ID are many, including kids faking it, the sites getting hacked and lack of privacy, among other problems.

Here is what Google is testing.

The company said it will consider data from Google accounts, including types of details users have searched for or categories of videos they have watched on YouTube, to determine the age. If the company’s tool decides that a user is under 18, they would get an email with details about how Google products might change for them.

It is unclear to me how this would distinguish a 17 year old from an 18 year old, but more power to them if they can do that.

For these users, Google will disable the timeline in Maps, stop personalized ads, restrict age-restricted ad categories, and bar them from accessing adult-themed apps on the Play Store. The company will also turn on digital well-being features on YouTube, such as break reminders and “go to bed” notifications when consuming videos late at night. Plus, it will prevent underage users from accessing certain kinds of content — such as content that could trigger body image issues — repeatedly.

If users think Google is wrong then they can show them a government ID or a selfie (same problem with a selfie – many 25 year olds look 15 and some 15 year olds look 20).

They already tested this on YouTube and now they are moving to using this on all Google accounts.

The industry has dodged this requirement (age verification) for way too long and now it is catching up with them, so getting creative seems like a good idea to me.

Credit: Tech Crunch

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