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Google Family Link
- 67726e 10y agoMaybe this will inspire a few kids to become a bit more tech savvy in order to bypass restrictions. That is quite literally why I am where I am today. Nine year old me wanted to play RuneScape, so I cracked open the computer user manual and found a backdoor. This started a lifelong trend of exploring systems and eventually lead to software engineering.
- dmd 10y agoSame here - I got into Commodore 64 game cracking and thus assembly language around that age so I could copy my friends' games.
- leesalminen 10y agoSame here. The parental control apps of the 90s were weak.
- UweSchmidt 10y agoHardly. Back then we had an atmosphere of freedom and parents didn't understand things properly. We had root access. Now children are put under surveillance and can't leave the walled gardens set up by corporations.
- cryptarch 10y agoYeah right, like computers are locked down that tight. It still takes my 13 year old brother just a few hours to figure out he has to put the Mac in recovery mode to allow the changing of system files (forgot what that security theater was called). Most parents haven't suddenly learned to set BIOS passwords or to protect the admin passwords, and even then, it's not too hard to burn and boot a disk that removes password checks from an unencrypted system.
- UweSchmidt 10y agoThat's why Google is handling this on the kid's Android device (possibly the main computing device for many) now.
- xg15 10y agoParents don't need to know about root passwords if even they don't have root access in the first place... (At least that seems to be the strategy on mobile)
- navs 10y agoThere's always some article or post on a forum with instructions on how to circumvent. Kids just need to Google it.
- 67726e 10y agoI never had root access, my parents always had locked down accounts and parental software. I'm not saying it might not be more of a slog to get around things on an Android phone, but it's not mission impossible. Never underestimate the resourcefulness of a kid who wants to play video games.
- neves 10y agoBack we didn't have Pornhub.
- jwerberg 10y agoYes. My 9 year old daughter just figured out a pretty impressive workaround for Kindle FreeTime. If there's a parent account that is logged out you can click to reset password - opens a browser window to a page on Amazon. No browser bar but has Amazon search. Search Amazon for a product related to where you want to go, follow links until you get to what you want. Or just find a google link and get anywhere.
- andrewshadura 10y agoI wonder why is it available in US only, and for parents only. It might be useful for giving Android devices to elderly people as well, who don't understand the technology well enough.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- theDoug 10y agoHistory shows that a very large portion of Google launches begin in the United States and then tend to scale outward. And I agree on the use case for seniors, given this is Family Link but targeted mostly toward juniors. It's been joked about elsewhere that “Parental Controls” is to control one's parents. (Disclosure: I work on Google Cloud Platform)
- puzzle 10y agoTargeting the elderly can be seen by some as agist or condescending. See the reactions to the stereotype of one's parents (especially one's mom) having trouble with technology.
- RhysU 10y agoI really wanted this to be something letting my wife and I share digital assets like we do real assets. Alas. Just take the device away from a kid using it at night against orders.
- koolba 10y agoThe lack of access to online accounts is a time bomb waiting to happen. A user friendly version of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamir%27s_Secret_Sharing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamir%27s_Secret_Sharing or some type of multi-sig to handle giving access to all of a persons accounts[1] will eventually be needed for the general population. Anyone that's had to deal with this after the passing of a loved one knows how much of an added pain it can be. [1]: At least the ones they want you to access...
- fredley 10y agoLastPass can be configured to automatically share your vault with a nominated person after (n) days of inactivity, after trying to email you etc.
- ReverseCold 10y agoWait, so it's a password storing service that's not encrypted?
- koolba 10y agoI'd be curious to see how they've implemented this. It'd be possible to do this with cross signing encryption keys so that by supplying their credentials, they could unlock the keys to unlock your stored passwords
- crdoconnor 10y agoGiven their previous monumentally bad security hole I wouldn't feel inclined to trust it.
- adamnemecek 10y agoThis is the lamest product ever. These types of products are fundamentally fascist.
- blowski 10y agoFascist?
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- visarga 10y agoAre you a kid?
- polishTar 10y agoHa, wow! Guess any parent who doesn't let their kids have absolute freedom is a fascist now. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- Kenji 10y agoKids used to get a slap when they misbehaved. Now they face surveillance and psychological torture e.g. by taking away the devices with which they are in contact with their friends and play games. If I was a kid, I'd take the slap over the other things any time of the day. But both are wrong. Thank god I am grown up now and actually have human rights (that I can enforce). I wouldn't want to be a kid nowadays.
- jzwinck 10y agoIf children having lack of access to digital devices is psychological torture, our grandparents truly were monsters. Children have rights but they do not have liberty.
- Kenji 10y agoYou don't understand. Imagine that some of your best friends are in another country and your contact to them is cut by means of removing your digital devices. Since children also cannot be allowed outside alone anymore, because the world is dangerous, this is truly like solitary confinement. Also, to reduce your argument ad absurdum: Would you take away the shoes of your kid because well, our ancestors once walked around without shoes so it seems like an appropriate punishment. Relative differences are the keywords here. Taking away something one is accustomed to causes pain.
- cryptarch 10y agoThis sounds like a bad excuse to collect data on children using Android. "We need to feed your emails to our ad systems so we can give you better ads!" "We need to know the engagement metrics for children specifically so we can better target them and do it in a way that is not displeasing to and counteracted by parents!"
- viraptor 10y agoNot sure what it changes, since this data is already available to them. What they change is making it also available to parents. The second point is weird, because Google provides only the basic apps. It's the third parties that would be interested in engagement metrics. And again - they already have access to them.
- cryptarch 10y agoGoogle owns YouTube and Gmail, both of which are oft used by children and adults alike. This adds new data, because now a parent-child link is established, and the user's "child-status"/age is confirmed by the parent using this tool on them.
- viraptor 10y agoAre you trying to say YouTube can't identify children based on their video history? It's be surprised if they didn't already have an excellent estimation of child/parent split. We're taking about a company specialising in targeting user groups. Sure, there's going to be that one adult guy who does enjoy listening to the same Frozen song 5 times a day, but that's an acceptable anomaly.
- gkop 10y agoWe don't need better tech for kids, we need better tech for the elderly. Kids can learn anything. Elderly can really struggle with today's tech.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- soneca 10y agoI agree. I have plans to create a site with animated gifs explaining from the most basic things in computer interface. Things i see my 70yo parents struggling to achieve/understand: - how to close/minimize/maximize/open a window. - right click, left click common outcomes - enter a site URL - Google use - save files - navegate through local files Etc Edit: I know "I have plans" is worth nothing, but I am unemployed right now and on a carreer change. Once I have better financial stability I plan to pursue this more effectively.
- DashRattlesnake 10y ago> I agree. I have plans to create a site with animated gifs explaining from the most basic things in computer interface. I remember my family's first Mac (an SE) came with a bootable disk with some simple interface tutorials like these.
- tsumnia 10y agoTo get you to think a little more outside the box - do elderly need "computers" or "connected devices"? My dad tossed his laptop once he learned his iPad. Just something to think on. Specific "gestures" can change with tech - just like 20 years ago when my parents learned how to use a mouse was different. How do you get elderly people to intuitively use a device?
- canadian_voter 10y agoNo money in tech for the elderly. They require more support, rarely upgrade and they die sooner. Kids require no support, constantly upgrade and become lifetime customers.
- annoying_tech 10y ago"- You must be in the US" Yet another feature we will never see again, it seems.
- open-source-ux 10y agoThe privacy implications of this are quite horrible. If you read the Google privacy notice, you'll see that Google tracks and records the activity of your child. https://families.google.com/familylink/privacy/child-policy/ https://families.google.com/familylink/privacy/child-policy/ The reactions in this thread and across the tech community toward Google are just baffling to me. There is a strong double standard. Microsoft and Facebook are, quite rightly, criticised and scrutinised over the amount and the degree of tracking they undertake. Meanwhile, Google, who capture unimaginably humongous amounts of data on users, escapes any scrutiny. From ChromeOS (an entire OS that tracks everything you do, and one heavily used in schools) to GMail and Google Analytics and CDNs, Google's digital fingerprints can be found in every corner of the web. It's no longer an exaggeration to say we live in a time when millions of people are tracked online from childhood to death. This isn't a dystopian episode of Black Mirror, but real life. I don't blame ordinary users for not fully understanding the privacy implications and the myriad and insidious ways they are tracked. But what excuse does the tech community have for giving Google a free pass on matters of privacy and online tracking?
- thraway2016 10y ago> But what excuse does the tech community have... You may be confused due to the name of this site. "Hacker News" is not, nor has it been for a very long time, by and for hackers. The success of YC has turned this site, and the community around it, into a money-centric zeitgeist. Marketers, "growth hackers", salespeople, recruiters, and other forms of greedy, parasitic professions, are now the dominant voice in the so-called "tech community". Anything for a buck, even at the expense of privacy and real technological advancement. That is the mantra of HN. Perhaps you might want to try Slashdot.
- reitanqild 10y agoTo get started, you’ll need: ... To be in the U.S At this point I'm past being the surprised by this. Lawyers recommended it I guess? I'd think annoying customers was something to worry about too but then again.
- gtirloni 10y agoLimited roll out in a market you understand first.
- lillesvin 10y agoI don't believe for a second that Google doesn't understand most of their markets. That they choose to ignore them (looking at you, myriad chat apps) is another issue, but they definitely understand e.g. France or Germany well enough to start roll-outs there. Would be nice to see them switch it up a little now and then so everyone not in the US don't have to feel like 2nd class citizens.
- robjan 10y agoWe have much stricter privacy laws in Europe so perhaps they are piloting in the US before deciding whether to take the time to make the service compliant with local regulations.
- reitanqild 10y agoThen release in Europe first: Once they have ironed out the privacy issues here the rolling out to US should be a nobrainer : )
- Nux 10y ago"America first!" :-)
- tinus_hn 10y agoUsing and collecting childrens' data is very complicated. If they completely worked out all the issues for the US it's not that strange they are limiting it to that for now.
- appleflaxen 10y agoGiven how fickle google has been with their new products, and how much worse their invasion of my privacy appears as time goes by, this just makes me shake my head. there are lots of things google provides that are so valuable that I feel it's worth the pain of supporting an increasingly crappy company. but having them track my kids isn't one of them. yuck.
- jasonkostempski 10y agoI tried this with iOS and regret it on a weekly basis, especially since I moved myself off iOS and my kid is still using an iPad. I have to keep an old iPhone around to manage the "Family" account because they don't have a web management option. Every single time I boot up the phone to approve purchases there's some issue I have to deal with that takes 20 minutes to resolve (logged out, cc expired, No SIM card). I wish I had just made him a normal account and lied about his age. He's already proven he can handle the internet responsibly and now everything is tied to that account and it can be made into an "adult" account until he's 13. Hopefully Google does it better.
- twodayslate 10y agoThe description makes it seem like it is Android only.
- jasonkostempski 10y agoI assumed that, I didn't think they'd replace anything on iOS. I've accepted my fate with that. I'm just saying if they're not doing it better, think about avoiding it.
- 7ewis 10y agoGlad this wasn't around when I was a kid!
- lutusp 10y agoI want to see a selectable parental option to remove all advertising of any kind from the content my child sees. Your move, Google.
- pgrote 10y agoAmazon's Kindle Free Time is sensational in controlling what is accessed by your children. They have a fantastic control of what can be offered and tt supports multiple age levels and allows you to control what is displayed on a granular level. You can also set a time limit for usage throughout the day and even the media type being consumed. There is a monthly charge for each child, but well worth it.
- neves 10y agoGreat. I didn't know about it. My sons are around 10yo, I'm really worried of them watching Netflix full of 18yo rated movies. Maybe it is time to change to Amazon for streaming.
- threatofrain 10y agoI wonder how Google plans to enforce Family Link, because kids are definitely smart and motivated enough to create their own Google account. Plus, kids are connected to a cultural network where they can easily find this information or ask someone else to do it for them.
- neves 10y agoTo contrast all the bashing comments here, I'd love to have this feature. I've broke my 20 years long love affair with Linux for Windows 10 just because their family features. Technology is addictive, I want my kids to use technology, but not to be dominated by it. I'm tired of seeing a bunch of kids in a park all around a phone instead of being running. Screen time limits is a fundamental feature of any modern Operating System.
- sebastianavina 10y agoim pretty sure you can implement in a couple lines a screen time watchdog on linux.