Overview

• YouTube has begun piloting machine learning–driven age estimation for signed-in U.S. users to identify under-18 viewers who have not verified their birthdates.
• Identified teens will have personalized ads disabled, receive screen time and bedtime reminders, get take-a-break notifications, receive privacy prompts when posting and face limits on repeated sensitive content.
• Users misidentified as under 18 can verify their age using a government ID, credit card or selfie to regain access to age-restricted videos.
• The system draws on account activity and longevity signals and applies across web, mobile and connected TV platforms.
• YouTube plans to monitor the U.S. pilot for several weeks before rolling out the age inference technology more broadly.