Child safety: Google expands Family Link
New parental control functions for Family Link and YouTube. School mode soon available for other Android devices.
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Parents do not want their children to be distracted during school hours, but they still want to be able to reach their children in an emergency. According to Google, this is the key message from many parents, to which the company has adapted its supervision functions.
There are therefore some protective functions and settings for younger children. Google has also introduced School Mode. This allows the functionalities of a device to be restricted for certain times, for example when the children are at school. Although the mode is initially available for Fitbit Ace LTE smartwatches, which are only available in the USA, it will also be available on selected Android smartphones, tablets and Samsung smartwatches in the coming year.
School mode is managed in Family Link. This is the settings area for parental supervision. It then allows finer gradations. For example, the contacts who are allowed to contact the child during this time can be selected, and individual apps can be prohibited or allowed.
Security settings for teenagers
Older children who are already too big for the previous parental supervision can be regulated via the focus mode – or regulate themselves. This is available on Android devices and makes it possible to switch off notifications so as not to be distracted.
A new feature on YouTube from the summer is the option for young people and parents to link their accounts. This allows parents to keep an eye on what their children are watching. In principle, it is possible to make various settings for all age groups in the Family Link. This also allows them to see which apps their children are using, whether they are adhering to screen time and, for example, where they are – provided the location is enabled.
By default, Google has set up some safety settings for everyone under the age of 18. SafeSearch adjusts the search results and the following videos are not automatically played on YouTube. Some videos are only visible to a limited extent, for example videos relating to your own body image, as Google writes in the blog post, which can be problematic if viewed repeatedly.
(emw)