Children and minors can now request Google to remove their images from Google Search
Parents, educators, child safety and privacy professionals, and policymakers are rightfully concerned about how to keep children and teenagers safe online as they spend more time online.
In order to create a safer online experience for children, Google has announced that anybody under the age of 18 or their parent or guardian will be able to request that their photos be removed from Google search results in the coming weeks.
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," Google said in a statement late on Tuesday.
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In a post on its blog website, Google said that, "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. "
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The changes are similar to those made by Facebook last month, when it announced that Instagram accounts for children under the age of 16 would be turned private by default, requiring users to select whether or not to make their profiles public.
It also prohibited advertisements targeting children based on their hobbies or activities, but it did not prohibit targeting them based on age, gender, or geography.
Children's YouTube uploads will eventually default to the most private option.
"We're going to change the default upload setting to the most private option available (on YouTube) for teens ages 13-17," said the company.
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Over the next several months, Google will begin rolling out these improvements to all of its products throughout the world.
SafeSearch, which helps filter out explicit results when enabled, is currently available from Google and is turned on by default for any signed-in users under the age of 13 who have accounts managed by Family Link.
(With inputs from agencies)