How does Google’s age access change impact Securly users?

Google has introduced new age-based access restrictions for its Google Workspace for Education services users. These changes came into effect on Sep 1, 2021. To understand what these changes mean for you and your organization, check out the support article from Google.

Overall, these changes do not impact Securly filtering negatively, and schools can continue using Securly seamlessly. Schools can expect the following changes in behavior:

1. Google requires schools to identify which users 18 years and above to help Google implement the new age access restrictions. If the admin has not identified such users, schools could see users in some OUs or custom groups getting the restricted policy from Google.  
2. Google will begin enforcing safe search for all users under 18, so irrespective of whether the admin has enabled safe search, their students will be displayed only safe search results.
3. Google will restrict users under 18 from sharing their location or turning on their location history. This could impact geolocation tracking for the flagged activity displayed on the dashboard in Securly Filter or against those activities in the Activities feed.