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Google launches apps for kids under the age of 13 that will include Google Chrome, YouTuBe, and many others in 2015. Some of these apps will include YouTuBe and Google Chrome, according to sources at USA Today.
A VP of engineering at Google, Pavni Diwanji, has issued a statement saying that these applications that will be released sometime next year, will help children be more creative, instead of being just customers of technology.
It is yet unclear how these apps for children under the age of 13 will work, but it is said that they will look different, and will present different type of data upon typing in the search box. Diwanji told journalists a story of her daughter when she was trying to search the word “trains” on Google expecting to see results Thomas The Tank Engine, but instead got results of the Amtrak schedule.
Google search however, could be more kid friendly, as can be the e-mail options, if the parents are given to filter the e-mail addresses from which their kid can receive e-mail notifications and keep track of their child account from their own user account. When contacted for details, the official Google spokesperson declined to comment while confirming that the rollout of kid friendly services is indeed a project they are focused on at the moment.
This will be no easy task for Google because of COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) which imposes strict limits on how information about children under the age of 13 is collected. The COPPA institute has already fined over 20 companies over the years because they were “mining” information about young users without the parent’s consent.
Google is also working on ways to allow parents to oversee their child’s activity with the company’s services, including limiting time spent with them. It seems like Google is really trying to help kids enjoy technology and other science programs, earlier this year, the company released Google Doodle competition and annual science fair. Such kind and friendly activities attract a large number of children towards education and learning process.
Of course, getting children familiar with its products and gadgets, also helps Google to hook users into its system early on in their lives, though it is fair to say that many kids are already familiar with many of Google’s online tools, sometimes even teaching their parents a thing or two about them.
