By Micah Jonah
January 15, 2026
A child rights advocacy group in the United States has accused Google of bypassing parental authority by allowing children to disable parental supervision on Google accounts once they turn 13.
Melissa McKay, president of the Digital Childhood Institute, highlighted the issue after her 12-year-old received an email from Google notifying him that he could unlock additional tools when he reached the minimum age for independent account management. McKay posted screenshots of the email on LinkedIn, raising concerns over the company’s approach to parental oversight.
Once children reach 13, they can turn off supervised experiences on YouTube, add payment methods to Google Pay, and control location sharing. Parents are no longer able to block apps, manage payments, or monitor activities through Google’s Family Link program.
“Google is asserting authority over a boundary that does not belong to them. It reframes parents as a temporary inconvenience to be outgrown and positions corporate platforms as the default replacement,” McKay wrote.
McKay filed a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in October, arguing that enabling minors to bypass parental supervision constitutes a “clear breach of duty of care.” She stated that allowing children to terminate oversight at such a critical stage of development exposes them to online risks without guidance.
The complaint alleges that Google’s policy violates the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which limits how tech companies collect and use personal data from children under 13. It also claims a violation of a 2014 FTC Consent Decree on in-app purchases, which requires parental consent before allowing children to make purchases.
Other child safety advocates have echoed McKay’s concerns. Joanne Ma, cofounder of DigiDefendr, said the policy “normalises the idea that kids should ‘go it alone’ online just because they’ve reached an arbitrary age,” warning that it undermines parental guidance and safety.
Past incidents have kept Google under scrutiny for children’s online safety. In 2025, a lawsuit alleged the company harvested data from Chromebooks used in US public schools. In 2019, Google settled with the New York State Attorney General for collecting children’s data on YouTube, paying $136 million in FTC fines and $34 million to New York.
Experts warn that rising online usage, including AI chatbots like ChatGPT, has intensified risks for youth mental health. Surveys indicate nearly half of US teens feel social media negatively affects their mental health, and reports show chatbots often lack adequate age verification and safety measures.
Tracy Parolin, cofounder of DigiDefendr, said, “Continued parental supervision should be the default and not something that the child opts into. Corporations like Google need to assume responsibility for youth safety online.”
Representatives for Alphabet, Google’s parent company, as well as the FTC and relevant Utah authorities, did not respond to requests for comment.
