YouTube Rolls Out Age-Estimation Tech To Identify US Teens, Apply Additional Protections 32
YouTube is rolling out age-estimation technology in the U.S. to identify teen users in order to provide a more age-appropriate experience. TechCrunch reports: When YouTube identifies a user as a teen, it introduces new protections and experiences, which include disabling personalized advertising, safeguards that limit repetitive viewing of certain types of content, and enabling digital well-being tools such as screen time and bedtime reminders, among others. These protections already exist on YouTube, but have only been applied to those who verified themselves as teens, not those who may have withheld their real age. [...]
If the new system incorrectly identifies a user as under 18 when they are not, YouTube says the user will be given the option to verify their age with a credit card, government ID, or selfie. Only users who have been directly verified through this method or whose age has been inferred to be over 18 will be able to view the age-restricted content on the platform. The machine learning-powered technology will begin to roll out over the next few weeks to a small set of U.S. users and will then be monitored before rolling out more widely, the company says. [...]
YouTube isn't sharing specifics about the signals it's using to infer a user's age, but notes that it will look at some data like the YouTube activity and the longevity of a user's account to make a determination if the user is under 18. The new system will apply only to signed-in users, as signed-out users already cannot access age-restricted content, and will be available across platforms, including web, mobile, and connected TV.
If the new system incorrectly identifies a user as under 18 when they are not, YouTube says the user will be given the option to verify their age with a credit card, government ID, or selfie. Only users who have been directly verified through this method or whose age has been inferred to be over 18 will be able to view the age-restricted content on the platform. The machine learning-powered technology will begin to roll out over the next few weeks to a small set of U.S. users and will then be monitored before rolling out more widely, the company says. [...]
YouTube isn't sharing specifics about the signals it's using to infer a user's age, but notes that it will look at some data like the YouTube activity and the longevity of a user's account to make a determination if the user is under 18. The new system will apply only to signed-in users, as signed-out users already cannot access age-restricted content, and will be available across platforms, including web, mobile, and connected TV.
"Introducing experiences" (Score:5, Insightful)
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In this modern era the puppets that be have been replaced with do-nothing HR nannies who scold everyone like angry, average-IQ schoolteachers.
Re: "Introducing experiences" (Score:2)
Not everyone. Just the teens who legit need nannies.
Uhm... (Score:2)
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Using a system like this to try to tell one *teen from another *teen is insane. There's absolutely no possible way to tell 16-19 apart that would be more than a sliver above random chance. Then you're still going to have an unacceptable false positive rate all the way down to 12 or so.
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Using a system like this to try to tell one *teen from another *teen is insane. There's absolutely no possible way to tell 16-19 apart that would be more than a sliver above random chance. Then you're still going to have an unacceptable false positive rate all the way down to 12 or so.
Incorrectly identifying someone as being younger than they are doesn't seem to be a big problem here, IMO. The risk Youtube is taking is in saying someone is over 18 while they're only 12 and then serving them the offending content. They have other ways to verify age in case the picture was insufficient.
That's not to say I agree with this proposed process. There are some other HUUUUUUUUUGE issues.
* How about expressly requesting photos of (underage) users?
* The facial database implications?
* How easy it is
Nanny state (Score:3)
Except instead of decisions made by elected representatives, the policies are opaquely determined by a panel hired by a corporation.
so much for being non-discriminatory (Score:2)
AI developers work hard to minimize bias against protected groups, that bias including age discrimination. Then the AI is used explicitly to implement age discrimination.
While they're at it, maybe YouTube can identify women on their menstrual cycles.
Status offenses exist (Score:2)
The law specifically requires "age discrimination" through the concept of a "status offense." My country recognizes age as a protected class only in very limited cases, mostly those involving employment of people over 40 [eeoc.gov].
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Here, 14 year-olds, 15 year-olds can't go to work unless the work-site is labelled child-friendly. That usually means everyone on the job must carry a "not a suspected pedophile/serial killer" identity card. So, the only job a 15 y.o. can have, is at the supermarket.
While there's always a 'think of the children' group declaring 15 year-olds are 'victimized' by somebody, it's gotten really, really intense in the USA, now that Epstein is in the news.
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Sounds well thought out. Rapist and child molester makes you president, but using someone else's USB stick is a capital offense. Trouble is, how does the child rapist-in-chief propagandize his subjects if they cannot get online? Do Musk's' bots require 2f authentication too? Or is there an exemption for platinum citizens?
The Meta Method (Score:1)
So the Meta Quest method [meta.com] of age verification is coming to Google. Fuck that.
Parents: Create accounts the day a kid is born! (Score:2)
Parents need to create a Google account (and probably the other FAANGs) on the day a kid is born to make sure they age into the Internet.
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Teens are already getting unfettered access to more porn than ever. Porn seems to be making them bitter and isolated.
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When web 2.0 arrived, everyday porn became violent, now porn just objectifies everything. Yes, that was always the consequence of porn, so it's difficult to explain how modern porn belittles everything.
But I agree with a Prof. Galloway: Teens lack a role model.
Adults wanting gritty stories, resulted in movies that taught teens, adults did a lot of fucking. I can see: There's no sex in books and movies, anymore. The role models teens now have, reveal teens can't make choices about their job, their h
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I guess? That's a bit of a stretch to assume that the forces keeping teens/young adults apart can be blamed on "adult" movies/books with insufficient levels of sex. Young people are exposed to a much wider variety of media than just books and movies.
the adults? (Score:1)
You should see what happens to some of the adults when Youtube gets ahold of them. Seems many of their brains aren't developed yet, they're highly impressionable, and lack judgement and experience.
what about us old fuckers? (Score:2)
What about those of us who's youtube accounts are over 18 years old? If they hide anything from us, they should jump in an active volcano.
I made my gmail account in 2005 (Score:2)
Still No way To Block YouTube Shorts? (Score:2)
I have a novel idea... (Score:3)
How about making content producers, not viewers, have to verify their real identity.
Then YT can lift most of their filters on words. Kids can handle, say, a video discussing suicide in a socially acceptable way. If someone puts up a video that says "you're a troubled teen? Here's 5 painless ways to take your life" then YT can not only nuke the account, but send it to Google to categorically nuke their account, ban the user for life from Google and refer them to law enforcement for investigation.
Leisure Suit Larry Quiz (Score:2)
Anybody else remember the Sierra Online adult game Leisure Suit Larry? It had a quiz at the beginning that was supposed to determine that you were over 18 before letting you play the game. 13 year old me had to brute force my way through it, and then face the disappointment that there wasn't much in the game that was more spicy than the JC Penny's catalog.
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I always thought the quiz was a joke.
Like the concept itself was supposed to be humorous and set the tone of the game.
Google AI Feeding Frenzy (Score:2)