Google is searching for new users: your children

Google will remove its existing age limits and offer GMail, YouTube and Google+ access to children under 13 in a bid to increase its user base, while appeasing concerned parents with a 'dashboard' that offers an easy way to monitor activity

Google will begin offering online accounts to children under 13 in a bid to increase its user base, according to reports. The move will require Google lawyers to overcome legal hurdles, but could actually make it easier for parents to keep tabs on what their children are up to online.

Until now there has been little to stop children simply lying about their age to register an account with any one of Google’s online services. New users are asked for their date of birth when signing up, and those who reveal themselves to be under 13 are refused an account and instead redirected to a page explaining Google’s policy. However, there are no checks in place to prevent users entering a false date of birth.

New child-specific accounts would provide features designed to appease parents who may be concerned about what their children are doing online. Adults will be able to set up the accounts for their children, place limits on how they can be used and also set parameters on what information Google can record about them.

In the US the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) makes retaining data on children more difficult than adults, placing strict limits on parental consent and use in advertising.

Other online companies such as Facebook also require potential users to be at least 13 years old to sign up. However, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said in 2011 that he was willing to fight to get the COPPA law changed and allow children to use Facebook.