Google Enhances Family Link with New Parental Control Features

Google has announced a series of significant updates to its parental control software, Google Family Link, aimed at enhancing parents' ability to manage their children's digital activities. These updates include tools designed to monitor and limit screen time across Android and Chrome devices, alongside a new feature named School Time. This feature allows parents to automatically adjust or limit device usage during specified hours. The rollout of School Time is set to begin next week, focusing initially on Android phones and tablets.

The School Time feature empowers parents by offering the ability to restrict access to certain applications during designated hours, ensuring children remain focused during critical periods such as school hours. This enhancement marks a pivotal addition to Google Family Link, which already provides comprehensive control over content access and privacy settings across several services including Google Search, Photos, Assistant, YouTube, and Chrome.

In an effort to further tailor digital experiences for younger users, Google is testing new machine-learning techniques aimed at accurately estimating users' ages. These techniques are expected to enhance age-appropriate experiences on children's devices. The age estimation model will first be tested in the United States this year before expanding globally.

In addition to the age estimation model, Google plans to introduce AI-powered features for teenagers later this year. Among these is the "Learn About" tool, which leverages generative AI to provide educational content. Furthermore, children with Android devices will gain the ability to make in-store payments using Google Wallet in the coming spring. Parents of supervised Android users under the age of consent will also be able to add payment cards to their child's Google Wallet.

These updates arrive as part of Google's response to mounting pressure from regulators in the United States and other countries for tech companies to enforce stricter safeguards and privacy protections for minors. The enhancements in Google Family Link aim to address these concerns by offering more robust parental controls and security features.