In 2015, Google will start creating child-friendly versions of some of its most popular products, which would most likely include its search engine, email, and YouTube. The new versions aim to target Internet users aged 12 years old and younger.
USA Today interviewed Pavni Diwanji, the Google vice president of engineering responsible for this endeavor, and she said that Google insiders are motivated to make the company's products fun and safe for children because "everyone is having kids."
"We expect this to be controversial, but the simple truth is kids already have the technology in schools and at home," she told the publication. "So the better approach is to simply see to it that the tech is used in a better way."
While many parents might find this convenient and even beneficial, this has become a concern for some watchdogs since the platform could be used to target ads toward a market that's most vulnerable.
Marc Rotenberg, president of watchdog group Electronic Privacy Information Center, told USA Today, "The prospect of audio-based advertising targeting our children is very real, and that's significant when you're talking about an age group that is very susceptible to manipulation. The FTC will have to step up on this. I don't think we want a world where our kids are sold things they don't need."
The Federal Trade Commission's Children's Online Privacy Protection Act protects kids from companies mining their data. FTC's COPPA, according to the report, has gone through several updates in the past 10 years to stay abreast with the ever-growing computer and Internet technology, especially with the emergence of mobile devices and social networking sites.
Meanwhile, PC World's Mark Hachman points out that, although Google hasn't specified what it is doing to make the services suitable for kids, it can be presumed that it would have to focus on two main areas, namely the interface and the search results. Hachman says that emails could relatively be easier to address but YouTube videos might be more difficult to police.
Nonetheless, it seems that Google has plans in mind to be able to make their services suitable for young Internet users.
Diwanji said, "We want to be thoughtful about what we do, giving parents the right tools to oversee their kids' use of our products. We want kids to be safe, but ultimately it's about helping them be more than just pure consumers of tech, but creators, too."
