Australians will soon have to verify age before using Google search

Aussies will soon be required to verify their age when logged into Google or other search engines, as part of broader sweeping crackdowns on harmful content.

Australians will be required to verify their age when logged into Google or other search engines before the end of the year, as part of broader sweeping crackdowns on harmful content that include the December 10 ban on under-16s using social media.

Under a raft of mandatory codes and standards currently being developed by Australia’s eSafety Commissioner covering virtually every online industry, age verification of users will be a key priority.

One of the draft codes approved last week covered search engines, which face fines of up to $49.5 million per breach.

“The types of checks they could do, they could ask for government-issued ID, they could do facial scanning to estimate your age, they could look at your previous history,”

Lisa Given, Professor of Information Sciences at RMIT University, told 6PR on Friday.

“There are a number of different mechanisms under the code that the companies can use, but we don’t know what they’re going to pick.”

Other age verification options available to search platforms under the code include credit card checks, digital ID and third-party verification.

“The key thing here is that the companies were involved in the creation of this code,” she said.

“So they certainly know this is coming, I expect that they are definitely going to comply. The question is which of these kinds of age-assurance mechanisms are they going to decide to choose.”

Prof Given said many people “are going to be very worried about their privacy”.

Search engines will be required to verify users’ age. Picture: Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

“We’re used to being able to go online and look for information anonymously,” she said.

“Many of us do log into search engine accounts, we have a Google account we use that so we can keep track of bookmarks and things. But once people start having to prove their age … we know there are some flaws with things like age-assurance technologies, this is going to make people extremely nervous.”

She noted that there were still a lot of unanswered questions about “how this is going to work functionally”.

“Am I going to have to prove my age every time I log in?” she said.

“Is it going to be a one-off? Who is going to have the information about me? Some of the provisions allow for companies to rely on third-party digital ID, so if I have a driver’s licence with the Victorian Government can I use that? That might make me feel more secure because it’s government-owned and regulated.”

If a user verifies their age and they are under 18, search engines will be forced to censor harmful content like pornography.

But age verification will not be required if the user remains logged out.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant. Picture: Martin Ollman/NCA NewsWire

“Many people will still be able to search for this content if they haven’t logged in,” Prof Given said.

“The only requirement there at a minimum is that the companies have to for example blur images [of online pornography]. Otherwise your search experience is going to be the same.”

John Pane, chair of Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA), told the ABC the new rules did not do enough to keep children safer online given the potential privacy impact for millions of Australians.

He said the results of the separate age-assurance technology trial had been “pretty disheartening”.

In addition to simply not logging in, Mr Pane added the rules could be circumvented using virtual private networks (VPNs).

“If the ambition of the government is to prevent children from accessing pornography, they’re forgetting straight away the skills of these young people,” he said.

Last week, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant announced that three of the nine codes submitted by online industries had been registered, covering search engine services, enterprise hosting services and internet carriage services such as telcos.

She said the codes create safeguards to protect children from exposure to pornography, violent content, and themes of suicide, self-harm and disordered eating.

“These three codes needed to create a high level of protections, especially for kids, to be registered,” Ms Inman Grant said in a statement.

Australia will ban under-16s from social media in December. Picture: Denis Charlet/AFP

“In particular, the fact the search engine code has achieved this is incredibly important as search engines are often the windows to the internet for all of us.”

Ms Inman Grant said she had sought additional safety commitments from industry on the remaining codes, including those dealing with app stores, device manufacturers, social media services and messaging and the broader categories of relevant electronic services and designated internet services.

“It’s critical to ensure the layered safety approach which also places responsibility and accountability at critical chokepoints in the tech stack including the app stores and at the device level, the physical gateways to the internet where kids sign-up and first declare their ages,” she said.

The eSafety Commissioner has asked industry to make further changes across some of the codes, including to strengthen protections around AI companions and chatbots to ensure these provide vital and robust protections.

“We are already receiving anecdotal reports from school nurses, that kids as young as 10 are spending up to five hours a day with AI chatbots, at times engaging in sexualised conversations and being directed by the chatbots to engage in harmful sexual acts or behaviours,” she said.

“We need industry to be building in guardrails that prevent their chatbots engaging in this type of behaviour with children. Industry indicated last week they would seek to make some of these changes shortly. I will consider these changes, and I aim to make my final determination by the end of next month. If I am not satisfied these industry codes meet appropriate community safeguards, I will move to developing mandatory standards.”

The eSafety Commissioner tasked the online industry last year to begin drafting codes that would protect children from exposure to a range of age-inappropriate content across the online ecosystem.

The codes were originally due to be submitted for registration assessment in December, but several extensions were granted before a final May deadline.

Communications Minister Anika Wells is ultimately responsible for enforcing the codes.

“The government welcomes the eSafety Commissioner’s registration of three new industry codes to protect children from pornography and other age-inappropriate content,” a spokesman for Ms Wells said in a statement.

“These codes were developed by industry and settled with eSafety. Our government has made no secret of its strong commitment to online safety for all Australians, while recognising the need to balance this imperative with protecting the privacy of users.”

Originally published as Australians will soon have to verify age before using Google search