Overview
- Reports since Sept. 24 show a sharp increase in prompts across apps and the web, marking a broader U.S. enforcement than the initial August pilot.
- YouTube’s model estimates age from signals such as viewing activity and account longevity, then flags suspected under-18 accounts for restrictions.
- Flagged accounts lose access to age-restricted videos, receive adjusted recommendations, see non-personalized ads, and have uploads set to private by default.
- Pop-ups notify affected users that settings changed and instruct them to complete age verification to restore features and mature content access.
- YouTube says verification data is not used for advertising, but privacy and security experts question data handling and warn about potential misclassification of adults.