This change has been expected for a while; if anything, it’s only surprising that it took so long to be enacted. But Google Korea has, for better or for worse, started asking for age verification following any adult-themed inquiries.
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Google Korea Sex Filter
Users must provide their name and the Korean version of a social security number in order to see unfiltered results for some searches. Otherwise, they’re liable to see a list of results, but also a yellow information box and the number 19 – that’s the age cutoff – circled in red.
The potential for breaches of privacy here seems huge, but Ionut Alex Chitu reports, “Apparently, this information is not saved on Google’s servers and the result of this verification can be saved to a Google account.” Also, “Most other sites that operate in South Korea use age verification . . .”
We’re still not comfortable with the idea, but to avoid belaboring the subject, we’ll at least grant that the filters seem somewhat effective. No yellow boxes appeared due to a search for “breast cancer,” for example, and although one did interrupt Chitu’s test search for “sexual harassment,” the relevant Wikipedia entry was still plainly visible.
Google seems willing to go to great lengths to accommodate the Korean market. In addition to the age verification, Google Korea’s homepage has already been redesigned with cartoon-like moving images, and more significant changes are supposedly in store for YouTube Korea.
