Google Will Use AI to Guess People's Ages Based on Search History

WIRED

3 days ago

Aug 2, 2025 6:30 AM Plus: A former top US cyber official loses her new job due to political backlash, Congress is rushing through a bill to censor lawmakers' personal information online, and more. Photo-Illustration:Last week, the United Kingdom began requiring residents to verify their ages before accessing online pornography and other adult content, all in the name of protecting children. Almost immediately, things did not go as planned—although, they did go as expected.
As experts predicted, UK residents began downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) en masse, allowing them to circumvent age verification, which can require users to upload their government IDs, by making it look like they're in a different country. The UK's Online Safety Act is just one part of a wave of age-verification efforts around the world. And while these laws may keep some kids from accessing adult content, some experts warn that they also create security and privacy risks for everyone.
Russia's state-backed hacking group Turla is known for its bold, creative attacks, such as masking their communications via satellite or piggybacking on other hackers' attacks to avoid detection. The group, which is part of the Russian FSB intelligence agency, is now using its access to the country's internet providers to trick foreign officials into downloading spyware that breaks encryption, allowing Turla's hackers to access their private information.
And that's not all. Each week, we round up the security and privacy news we didn't cover in depth ourselves. Click the headlines to read the full stories. And stay safe out there. Google Will Start Estimating Your Age Based on Browsing Data
Google is rolling out an AI-powered age-estimation system to apply content protections to Search and YouTube, even for users who haven't provided their age. The system is launching in the EU, where digital safety regulations mandate that platforms take steps to protect minors from potentially harmful content.
Instead of relying solely on user-input data, Google says it will infer age using a 'variety of signals' and other metadata to determine if a user should be shown restricted results. Privacy advocates say the move risks inaccuracies and raises questions about transparency and consent.
Google claims the changes align with regulatory expectations and will help protect younger users from inappropriate content. Still, the idea that platforms can algorithmically infer personal traits like age—and restrict content based solely on those assumptions—adds a new wrinkle to long-standing debates over moderation, censorship, and digital privacy. Army Revokes Former CISA Director's West Point Appointment After Political Backlash
Just 24 hours after naming Jen Easterly as West Point's Distinguished Chair in Social Sciences, the Army rescinded the appointment following far-right criticism. The former Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) director and academy alum had been lauded for her decades of service. But backlash erupted online after activist Laura Loomer claimed Easterly had ties to the Biden-era Disinformation Governance Board.
Nina Jankowicz, who served as executive director of the board, denied having worked with Easterly in a post on BlueSky, calling the episode yet another example of how we're all living in 'the stupidest timeline.'
Nevertheless, Army secretary Dan Driscoll canceled Easterly's contract and ordered a full review of West Point's hiring policies. The Army also suspended the practice of allowing outside groups to help select faculty. The reversal marks the second high-profile clash involving former CISA leaders and political pressure following Donald Trump's revocation of Chris Krebs' security clearance earlier this year. Congress Fast-Tracks Bill Letting Lawmakers Censor Info About Their Homes and Travel
A bipartisan bill from US senators Amy Klobuchar and Ted Cruz could let lawmakers demand the removal of online posts showing their home addresses or travel plans, Rolling Stone reports. The proposal, which could pass by unanimous consent, is framed as a response to growing threats against public officials—especially after the assassination of Minnesota legislator Melissa Hortman last month.
Watchdogs joined dozens of media outlets in warning that the bill could chill reporting and enable selective censorship. While the legislation includes a nominal exemption for journalists, critics say it remains vague enough to allow members of Congress to sue outlets or demand takedowns of legitimate news stories.
'The Cruz-Klobuchar bill would not provide [lawmakers] the protection they seek but would create a powerful new tool that would result in censorship of public discussion and press accountability for their actions,' Daniel Schuman of the American Governance Institute told Rolling Stone. He urged Congress to go 'back to the drawing board' and try crafting a bill that protects all Americans' privacy 'without undermining accountability for public officials.' Google Bug Let People Quietly Censor Articles From Search
An alarming vulnerability in Google's Refresh Outdated Content tool allowed bad actors to selectively scrub individual URLs from search results, 404 Media reports. And there was no hacking required. Journalist Jack Poulson discovered the bug when two of his investigative pieces, including one about a tech CEO's domestic violence arrest, vanished from Google, even when searched by exact title in quotes.
The exploit involved repeatedly submitting URLs with minor capitalization tweaks. This reportedly confused Google's indexing engine, which responded by de-listing not just the altered URLs but the original live articles too. Google confirmed the flaw and quietly rolled out a fix, saying it impacted only a 'tiny fraction of web pages.'
Free press advocates warn the vulnerability could've enabled targeted, silent censorship, especially by powerful actors using reputation management tactics. 'If your article doesn't appear in Google search results,' Poulson said, 'in many ways it just doesn't exist.'