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Ask HN: Why does Google+ have an age requirement and when will it end?

4 points by solipsist ↗ HN
Google+ requires users to be of 18 years or older. Previous Google products have not had this requirement (e.g. Google Wave). Why did Google choose to do this and when do you think they will get rid of that limitation.

9 comments

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Raphael
It is an odd requirement. Situations like this just lead to people lying about their age.
solipsist
Not exactly. I am under 18 and have found no easy way to make my way around their age requirement. Your age is tied to your Google Account from the moment you created it and there is currently no way to ever change it.
icebraining
Why would you ever choose to put your real age? Until I was over 18, my age on most websites was around 90.
solipsist
Why wouldn't I? Plus, Raphael suggested that Google's action would lead to people lying about their ages - which hinted that their was a way for people to change their ages on their Google accounts after the fact. I was simply responding to that question.
coryl
Legalities most likely. Serving a younger audience usually requires specific privacy features and guidelines.
solipsist
But this seems like something they would have known before. Why did Google Wave not have similar restrictions?
ig1
The same reason Google Docs didn't, a social network is substantially different from a collaboration platform.

It may be for social reasons rather than legalities, it'd be very easy for a third party to run a smear campaign targeting Google+ for failing to protect minors and allowing predators to target them through the service.

odlogan
Orkut, as I recall, had the same requirement; didn't it?
ajdecon
From some posts on the Google+ discussion forum (https://groups.google.com/a/googleproductforums.com/forum/?h...): Google+ will likely have an 18+ requirement throughout the Limited Field Trial as they are still building the safety features for minors. Over the years there have a been a number of poor interactions between social networks and the laws regarding minors, and Google probably wants to try to head those off as much as possible.

Probably due to US law, the same posts say Google+ will not be open at all for people under 13.