Google has announced that it will be adding a new step to verify a user’s age on some core Android products in Australia, with YouTube and Google Play requiring as much as a valid ID to confirm your age soon.
In a blog post, Google explains that YouTube and Google Play will be adding a new “age assurance” step to their respective Android apps “over the coming month” in accordance with government regulations. The Australian Online Safety (Restricted Access Systems) Declaration requires platforms such as YouTube and Google Play to take “reasonable steps” to confirm a user’s age when accessing content that is potentially inappropriate for those under 18 years.
When attempting to watch mature content on YouTube or download mature content from the Play Store, Google says that users in Australia will see the prompt below, which asks for Android users to “complete a brief check” to verify their age. In some cases, this will be an automatic process, but in others, it may require a “valid ID” or a credit card to verify your age for YouTube or Google Play access. The company details:
As part of this process some Australian users may be asked to provide additional proof of age when attempting to watch mature content on YouTube or downloading content on Google Play. If our systems are unable to establish that a viewer is above the age of 18, we will request that they provide a valid ID or credit card to verify their age. We’ve built our age-verification process in keeping with Google’s Privacy and Security Principles.
Notably, Google’s new measures in Australia are similar to those in place in the European Union under the AVMSD.
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