Microsoft's Cortana voice assistant for Windows Phone 8.1 will not talk to kids under the age of 13 due to regulatory restrictions from the U.S. government.
Microsoft unveiled Cortana, a voice activated virtual assistant for Windows Phone 8.1, at the Build keynote in San Francisco earlier this month but the feature is currently in beta phase. Several media reports have detailed the impressive capabilities of Cortana, which is named after Halo's AI character but the feature will not be available to children under 13.
According to a report from CNET, Cortana voice assistant for Windows Phone does not talk to kids under the age of 13 and responds with, "I'm sorry, you'll need to be bit older before I can help you." The reason behind the restriction, as CNET notes, is due to the regulations imposed by the U.S. government's Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, COPPA.
Cortana, like Apple's Siri, lets users ask questions and perform specific tasks with just voice commands. Microsoft is looking to improve the experience on its virtual voice assistant over time by collecting data on users and sending it to Microsoft's servers, a move which restricts Cortana's access to kids under COPPA's child data protection laws.
COPPA restricts children under age 13 to share information online without parent's approval. Since Cortana doesn't have any parental control feature, use of the feature by children under 13 is restricted. But chances are Cortana will get necessary tweaks before it is publicly available so users of any age can use the feature without restriction, CNET reports.
The limitation on the use of Cortana emerged after a developer reached out to Microsoft on the company's forum asking to let their young daughter use Cortana.
But it is not clear how Cortana will know how old you are and there is always the option of faking one's birth date.
Microsoft is expected to launch Cortana on other Microsoft devices like Windows PCs and Xbox consoles later this year.
