Building a Safer Digital Experience: Bringing Age Assurance to Malaysia
We’re expanding age assurance in Malaysia to help us further protect young people as they use Google products, following its rollout in Singapore, the US and other markets. These measures are designed to recognise users who are either over or under 18, so that we can provide age-appropriate experiences for those under 18. This is just one part of our broader commitment to keeping Malaysians safe online.
Our age-appropriate protections for under 18 in Malaysia
For users we infer to be under 18, we’ll automatically provide our existing enhanced protections to ensure age-appropriate experiences, such as turning on the SafeSearch Filter settings by default to filter explicit content, blocking mature material on products like Play and Gemini as well as prohibiting personalized ads and disabling location timelines on Maps. We will also turn on YouTube Digital Wellbeing tools like reminders to “take a break” and “time for bed”, and add safeguards for content recommendations, including limiting repetitive views of some kinds of content
How Google’s age assurance works
When our tools estimate a user might be younger than 18, we'll notify them via email and as they use Google products. These notifications explain how their settings have changed to provide default account protections, and, if the model is incorrect, how adults can verify their age to manage these settings themselves.
Age assurance helps us ensure that adults can access the information and services they need, while also applying the right protections for our younger users. Our approach to age assurance uses a combination of age estimation and, when necessary, privacy-protecting age verification methods.
- Age estimation: Our age estimation model uses machine learning to interpret a variety of signals already associated with a user's account, such as the types of information a user has searched for. These signals help us determine whether a user is likely over or under the age of 18. Our approach does not involve collecting additional data.
- Age verification: If we incorrectly estimate a user to be under 18, the user has the option to correct their age by uploading a photo of their government ID or a selfie.
Implementing our age assurance technology in Malaysia is an important step to help ensure Malaysians have age-appropriate, privacy-preserving experiences across our platforms.
