Melissa McKay, president of the Digital Childhood Institute (DCI), posted on LinkedIn that Google emailed her almost 13-year-old child with instructions on how to disable parental controls.
“A trillion dollar corporation is directly contacting every child to tell them they are old enough to “graduate” from parental supervision,” wrote McKay. “The email explains how a child can remove those controls themselves, without parental consent or involvement.”
Yes, Google is telling those children how to disable parental controls without notifying the parent.
“Call it what it is,” McKay asserted. “Grooming for engagement. Grooming for data. Grooming minors for profit.”
Here are the screenshots in McKay’s post:
“Google is asserting authority over a boundary that does not belong to them,” claimed McKay. “It reframes parents as a temporary inconvenience to be outgrown and positions corporate platforms as the default replacement.”
According to Google, a parent would receive an email before the child’s birthday about their ability to have an unsupervised account.
“Before a child turns 13, parents will get an email letting them know that their child will be eligible to take charge of their account on their birthday, after which you will no longer be able to manage their account,” the tech company says on the FAQ page. “On the day when they turn 13, children can choose whether they want to manage their own Google Account or continue to have their parent manage it for them.”
The Daily Caller pointed out that DCI, McKay’s organization, asked the FTC to investigate Google in October.
The complaint mentions how Google removes 13-year-olds from parental supervision.
“Additionally, Google permits children to unilaterally withdraw from parental supervision upon turning 13, thereby creating significant risks for young users,” the DCI wrote to FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson. “Enabling minors at this critical stage of development to terminate parental oversight, even when parents expressly seek to maintain such protections, constitutes a clear breach of duty of care and may amount to an unfair and deceptive practice under established consumer protection and child safety laws.”
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