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That's due to a Clinton era law Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA). It forbids companies form collecting personal info from children under 13 without their parents permission.

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What's funny is that nobody seems to provide a workflow to actually create accounts for kids. I want to set up a supervised google account for my son for hangouts et al... and I have no idea how. I guess that's not a thing.

It is for some services/websites that have policies in place. Google probably doesn't care enough to have a process, not worth it for them.

Since I can't edit here is an example:

http://www.neopets.com/coppa/consentform.phtml

Google doesn't care because it takes more effort for them to obey by the law than its worth for them at this time.

Haha, I remember getting this signed and then faxed by my dad when I was like 11. Funny seeing it here because I first learned HTML from Neopets (anyone else?). HTML brought me to javascript and computer programming in general. 15 years later, that form is still up and I guess kids are still playing Neopets. And now I am here, weird.

>I want to set up a supervised google account for my son for hangouts et al...

Why?

Same reason I have a landline, so he and his friends can talk. He's 8.

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