Microsoft's Cortana will be PG-13

[dgstorm]

Here's an interesting wrinkle we didn't see coming. Apparently, Microsoft's new voice-activated digital assistant Cortana, will be PG-13 (or the equivalent thereof). Apparently, according to the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), because Cortana is considered an online service, users must be 13-years old or older to be able to use the voice features.

In fact, built into Cortana will be a safety mechanism. If someone under the required age tries to use her services, Cortana will reply with, “I’m sorry, you’ll need to be a bit older before I can help you.” It's unclear how she will be able to determine if the user is old enough. Here's a quote with a few more details,

Typically, online users under the age of 13 can still use certain technology if their parents grant permission. Microsoft’s gaming system, Xbox Live for instance, has an online system that allows parents to turn on or off specific areas of the service for their kids. Cortana doesn’t yet have that function. Cortana is still listed as being in “beta,” or in testing mode. While Cortana is highly personalized, users can still choose what personal data are shared with the service. Microsoft did not provide an official comment as of press time.

What do you guys think of this? Oversensitivity or smart safety for kids? Also, how do you think they will implement this?

Source: USAToday

 

[leeshor]

Makes me wonder how they know. They may just need a disclaimer pop-up asking if you are older than 13. otherwise the NSA would need to be involved.

 

[jnjroach]

I have my Son under Family Safety and in his profile I setup DOB, I received and email on hos 13th birthday stating I no longer had control of his marketing preferences....I still see everything he does and searches for but he gets to make his on agreements, etc.

 

[leeshor]

I know that before using any current gen MS software you need an account and it asks for a birth date. But people lie.

I know of several cases where multiple Office 2013 users are under one account. That could defeat it right there.