Google publishes guidance on Play Age Signals API as part of online safety package

Google has published a guide on how to use the beta version of its Play Age Signals API to retrieve “age-related signals” for users and perform a number of other functions.

According to the document, “to request the user’s status and age range, you call the API from your app at runtime;” then “Play returns an age range based on the age bands defined by the applicable jurisdiction and regions.”

“The Play Age Signals API only returns data for users based in regions where Play is required by law to provide age category data. The default ages the API returns in applicable jurisdictions and regions are 0-12, 13-15, 16-17, and 18+ but these may change based on regional requirements.”

The product is not dissimilar to Apple’s version, the Declared Age Range API. Its launch is part of Google’s response to age verification and online safety laws in states like Texas, Utah, and Louisiana, which also includes a facial age estimation rollout in Google Play.

The same goes for guidance on how to notify Google Play of significant changes to an app that require parental approval, and how to be notified about revoked app approvals.

“When you notify Google Play about a significant change, Play will raise an approval request to the parents of supervised users in the applicable jurisdictions and regions. You can use the Play Age Signals API to track the most recently approved significant change and the approval status of any pending significant changes,” Google says.

The company’s data privacy policies dictate that developers “may only use information from the Play Age Signals API to provide age-appropriate content and experiences in compliance with laws,” and “may not use the Play Age Signals API for any other purpose including, but not limited to, advertising, marketing, user profiling or analytics.”

Article Topics

age verification  |  API  |  app stores  |  biometric age estimation  |  facial age estimation (FAE)  |  Google