Google Family Link: this app allows parents to set up child accounts

A new help tool for parents to set up and manage accounts for their children under 13

As our cooperation partner Safer Internet reports, Google has introduced the “Family Link” app in the European Union just in time for the General Data Protection Regulation.

According to the terms of use, the use of your own Google account is permitted from the age of 13. Since many younger children also have their own smartphone and use Google services, parents now have the opportunity to create and manage children's accounts with the “Family Link” app.

Excursus: When is my child ready for a smartphone?

Many children want a smartphone at an increasingly early age - often reinforced by peer pressure from their circle of friends. For many children, the smartphone is more than just a way to make phone calls and exchange information.

It is also a status symbol and topic of conversation among friends, which means it fulfills a strong social function.

In the Saferinternet.at article “When is my child ready for a smartphone?” we give suggestions on how parents can support their child's smartphone use and how cell phone use can be regulated in everyday family life.

In our video parenting guide “Ask Barbara!”, parents can get tips on their first smartphone.

Google Family Link

The app provides detailed monitoring of device usage: weekly and monthly activity logs are created and can be accessed. After parents have downloaded the app and set up sub-accounts, they can control their children's smartphone usage, such as unlocking or blocking individual apps, viewing or limiting the duration of use.

For example, parents can set a bedtime during which the device cannot be used. It is even possible to remotely lock the device or individual apps used by the child.

The app itself does not block inappropriate or harmful content. For this purpose, Google refers to the filter settings of the Google services (Google Search or Google Play Store). However, since these technical options are not 100% effective, Google relies on the help of parents. For example, they can create bookmarks for their children, explore apps together, block certain search results and work out basic rules with their children for using smartphones and the associated online services.

Google provides tips for this on the “Family Link” information page .

Parents can use Family Link on their Android or iOS devices. Further information about usability on different device versions can be found in the FAQs on the “Family Link ” .

Once they reach their 13th birthday, the minimum age specified , children can take over the management of their Google account themselves.

The parents then receive an email notification in which they have the opportunity to transfer the child's account to a regular Google account and thus give the child more responsibility.