In August, YouTube began rolling out a new system that uses AI algorithms to estimate users’ ages in the United States.
If your account activity suggests to YouTube that you may be under the age of 18, your account will be subject to certain restrictions.
YouTube has stressed that simply watching content that’s appropriate for all ages won’t get your account flagged, and if your account is erroneously flagged, there are ways to restore full access.
Here’s what you need to know about YouTube’s new policy.
What’s changed about YouTube age verification?
Source: YouTube/Android Police
Before the introduction of these new AI-powered features, YouTube’s age verification was more or less based on the honor system.
YouTube checked the birthdate associated with your Google account. If that put your age at 18 or above, YouTube treated your account as belonging to an adult.
Now, YouTube “uses a variety of signals” to algorithmically estimate your age. The streaming platform hasn’t clarified exactly what those signals are, but content viewed does play a role.
The age of your account matters, too. If you’ve been active on YouTube for 20 years, you’re clearly not a minor.
YouTube has stated that watching all-ages content or even content expressly made for children won’t automatically signal to the platform that you’re under 18.
In a post on the YouTube Help forum, a Google employee clarified that YouTube’s new age-estimation model “is not focused on any specific genre or type of video,” specifically calling out Pokémon, Minecraft, anime, and Roblox as examples of all-ages content.
The post also states that YouTube is “confident” that its models will be able to tell you’re an adult, even if your child sometimes watches kids’ content on your devices.
What happens if YouTube flags your account
If YouTube’s new models flag you as being under 18, your account will be restricted with what YouTube refers to as “standard protections for teen accounts.”
First and foremost, a flagged YouTube account will no longer be able to access age-restricted content on the platform. Age-restricted videos typically feature sexually suggestive content, violence, or heavy use of vulgar language, among other things.
Under-18 YouTube accounts will also have some digital wellbeing features enabled. These include reminders at regular intervals to take breaks from the platform.
YouTube will also only play non-personalized ads on minors’ accounts, rather than ones targeted based on internet browsing and video viewing history.
What you can do to regain full access
If your account is wrongly identified as being owned by a minor, YouTube offers a few ways to restore your normal access.
You’ll be notified if Google’s models flag your account. At that point, YouTube says that you can submit either your government ID, a credit card, or a selfie in an attempt to prove your age.
If you’re inaccurately singled out as under 18 but decline to submit any of the accepted documentation to prove your age, your account will remain restricted.
While YouTube stresses it’s not ever necessary to submit your government ID, privacy experts have expressed concern about the company collecting the information even with consent.
YouTube doesn’t share how this data is stored or used (though it told Ars Technica it doesn’t retain data from “ID or Payment Card for the purposes of advertising”).
