Earlier this year, Google killed off the Supervised User platform for Chrome and Chrome OS which allowed parents to monitor their kids’ computer usage. At the time, Google said it had a replacement in the pipeline but never expanded on what that was or when it would roll out. Now, without any formal announcement, it appears that Family Link accounts now work on Chromebooks.
Due to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, anyone under the age of 13 has to get parental consent to provide their identity online. Because of this, many social media platforms don’t bother granting access to its platforms for those below that age.
But Google, through the use of its Family Link program, allows children to sign up for Gmail accounts which are then heavily monitored by a parent. Up until now, the use of the child’s Family Link account would only work on Android. Thanks to ChromeUnboxed, we now know that they also work for Chromebooks.
As you can see from this Google support page, Family Link support rolled out with version 65 of Chrome. Below, you will find all of the restrictions placed on those sign in with a child account:
- Children won’t have access to apps from Google Play and Chrome Web Store.
- Children can’t use incognito mode.
- Parents can manage the websites their children can visit on Chrome, and limit their children’s ability to grant permissions to websites.
- As set up in Family Link, by default, Chrome browsing tries to block sexually explicit and violent sites from being shown to children.
- Chrome Sync is required for certain parental management features to work with your child’s Google Account. You can turn off certain kinds of data collection.
- Your child’s Google Activity controls may allow Google to use Chrome browsing history and activity from websites to personalize your child’s experience across Google products and services. However, this info won’t be used to personalize ads.
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