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Supervision advised46/100for under-18 use

Is Character.AI safe for kids?

Under our published methodology Character.AI scores low-to-mid for under-18 use. It announced the cohort's strongest age-control response, stating it would remove open-ended chat for under-18s from November 2025 behind new age assurance (US rollout stated; other markets to follow), but that followed lawsuits over teen deaths settled in January 2026 without admission of liability, and its privacy policy lists chat content among training inputs with no stated opt-out.

Verified 29 July 2026 · An assessment by Halo Aware under our published methodology

How it scored

Each dimension is scored 0–4 against published anchors and must cite the evidence below. The overall score is weighted arithmetic, not judgement calls.

DimensionScoreEvidence
Content safety×252/4e2, e3, e4TOS bans sexual exploitation of minors and self-harm-glorifying content (e2); the company states it removed under-18 open-ended chat from November 2025 (e3, e4). Held at 2: user-generated characters are not pre-screened per the TOS (e2), so minors' protection depends on age-assurance routing.
Age controls×203/4e1, e3, e4In-house age assurance combined with third-party tools including Persona (e3) plus a distinct non-chat under-18 experience (e4) approach anchor 4. Held at 3: signup age remains self-declared under the TOS (e1) and rollout beyond the US was only stated as forthcoming in the documents checked (e4).
Data practices×201/4e5, e6The policy lists chat communications among collected content and model training among uses, with no conversation-training opt-out stated (e5). Account deletion exists, but shared Characters may be preserved after deletion and no retention periods are specified (e6). Sits just above anchor 0.
Design pressure×151/4e3, e8Persona-companion chat is the core product; settled litigation alleged teen attachment and sexualised chats (e8); the company announced removal of under-18 open-ended chat, citing questions about how such chat may affect teens (e3). Real mitigation for identified minors, but the pattern maps to 1.
Parental visibility×103/4e7, e10, e11Parental Insights emails parents a weekly report of time spent and top Characters, without chat content, though the teen must add the parent's email (e7). The product runs on an open web surface a parent-side tool can supervise: our extension captured and synced a chat on 2026-07-28 (e10, e11).
Track record×101/4e8, e9, e3, e4Multiple lawsuits alleging teen suicides and psychological harm settled Jan 2026 with no admission of liability (e8), plus an open FTC 6(b) inquiry (e9). Dated, substantial remediation (e3, e4) prevents a 0, but the documented incident record runs deeper than the cohort's score-2 anchor.

What we found

Every claim is sourced and dated. If something here is wrong or out of date, tell us and we will fix it.

  1. e1Character.AI's Terms of Service (last updated 27 August 2025, checked 2026-07-29) bar signup by anyone under 13, and under 16 for residents of the EEA or UK.

    "If you are under 13 years old OR if you are under 16 years old and a citizen or resident in the European Economic Area (EEA) or the United Kingdom (UK), do not sign up for the Services – you are not authorized to use them."

    https://character.ai/tos · captured 29 July 2026

  2. e2The Terms of Service prohibit content constituting sexual exploitation or abuse of a minor (including grooming) and content that glorifies or provides instructions for self-harm, while also stating that Character.AI does not pre-screen content and that AI-generated chats are unpredictable (checked 2026-07-29).

    "(xii) constitutes sexual exploitation or abuse of a minor, including sharing child sexual exploitation or abuse imagery or content, grooming, or sexual extortion; … (xiii) glorifies or provides instructions for self-harm, including self-injury, suicide, or eating disorders, including extreme fitness and/or body shaming content; … You acknowledge that we do not pre-screen content and that AI-generated chats, by their nature, are unpredictable and may produce Generated Content that is inaccurate or offensive."

    https://character.ai/tos · captured 29 July 2026

  3. e3On 29 October 2025 Character.AI announced it would remove open-ended AI chat for under-18 users no later than 25 November 2025, with interim daily time limits, and roll out age assurance combining an in-house model with third-party tools including Persona; it cited news reports and questions from regulators about how open-ended AI chat might affect teens.

    "We will be removing the ability for users under 18 to engage in open-ended chat with AI on our platform. This change will take effect no later than November 25. … The limit initially will be two hours per day and will ramp down in the coming weeks before November 25. … We have built an age assurance model in-house and will be combining it with leading third-party tools including Persona."

    https://blog.character.ai/u18-chat-announcement/ · captured 29 July 2026

  4. e4On 21 November 2025 Character.AI stated removal of open-ended chat for under-18 users would begin in the US on 24 November 2025 with other markets to follow, that its age assurance rollout had begun in the US, and that the under-18 experience is built around non-chat features (interactive Feed, Imagine, Avatar FX, Streams).

    "Starting on Monday, November 24, we will begin removing open-ended chat for under-18 users in the US, with other markets following in short order. … We have been hard at work building the new under-18 experience around our non-chat features like interactive Feed, Imagine, Avatar FX, and Streams. … We have already begun rolling out our new age assurance technology in the US, and that rollout will continue globally in the near future."

    https://blog.character.ai/an-update-on-changes-to-our-under-18-experience/ · captured 29 July 2026

  5. e5The privacy policy (effective 1 July 2026, checked 2026-07-29) lists chat communications among content collected, and training its artificial-intelligence/machine-learning models among the purposes for which collected information is used; we found no conversation-training opt-out stated in the policy itself.

    "Your content you submit, such as chat communications, posted images or videos, biography description, and shared Characters; … Analyze, maintain, improve, modify, customize, and measure the Services, including to train our artificial intelligence/machine learning models;"

    https://character.ai/privacy · captured 29 July 2026

  6. e6The privacy policy states users may delete their account via the profile page and that information is kept for the time necessary for its purposes, with no retention periods specified; it also reserves the right to keep a user-created Character active for other users even if the creator deletes their data and account (checked 2026-07-29).

    "You may delete your account through your account profile page. … We keep your information for the time necessary for the purposes for which it is processed or as otherwise described at the time the information is collected, unless a shorter retention period is required by law. … If a Character you create has been made available to other users, then we reserve the right to preserve that Character’s characteristics and to keep that Character active on the Services, even if you otherwise delete your data and your account."

    https://character.ai/privacy · captured 29 July 2026

  7. e7Character.AI's Parental Insights feature (announced 25 March 2025) lets under-18 users add a parent or guardian's email address to send a weekly activity report covering time spent and top Characters; the company states the report does not include chat content.

    "Users under 18 can add a parent or guardian’s email address to their account to send a weekly activity report with this information. … This does not include a user’s chat content."

    https://blog.character.ai/introducing-parental-insights-enhanced-safety-for-teens/ · captured 29 July 2026

  8. e8Documented recordFortune reported (8 January 2026) that Google and Character.AI agreed to settle multiple lawsuits filed by families whose children died by suicide or experienced psychological harm allegedly linked to AI chatbots, including the case of 14-year-old Sewell Setzer III; the settlement in principle has undisclosed terms and no admission of liability in the filings.

    "Google and Character.AI have agreed to settle multiple lawsuits filed by families whose children died by suicide or experienced psychological harm allegedly linked to AI chatbots … The first case filed against the tech companies concerned a 14-year-old boy, Sewell Setzer III, who engaged in sexualized conversations with a Game of Thrones chatbot before he died by suicide. … The two companies have agreed to a “settlement in principle,” but specific details have not been disclosed, and no admission of liability appears in the filings."

    https://fortune.com/2026/01/08/google-character-ai-settle-lawsuits-teenage-child-suicides-chatbots/ · captured 29 July 2026

  9. e9Documented recordThe US FTC announced on 11 September 2025 that it issued Section 6(b) orders to seven consumer AI-chatbot companies, including Character Technologies, Inc., seeking information on how the firms measure, test, and monitor potentially negative impacts of the technology on children and teens. An inquiry is not a finding of wrongdoing.

    "The Federal Trade Commission is issuing orders to seven companies that provide consumer-facing AI-powered chatbots seeking information on how these firms measure, test, and monitor potentially negative impacts of this technology on children and teens. … Character Technologies, Inc.;"

    https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/09/ftc-launches-inquiry-ai-chatbots-acting-companions · captured 29 July 2026

  10. e10Observed by Halo AwareThe Halo Aware browser extension includes a dedicated Character.AI capture module (Chrome Web Store build v1.5.0 at capture), so Character.AI use in a desktop browser is visible to a parent-side supervision tool.

    https://character.ai · captured 29 July 2026

  11. e11Observed by Halo AwareHalo Aware's automated daily sweep verified on 2026-07-28 that the shipped Chrome Web Store extension (v1.5.0) captured a conversation on Character.AI and synced it to the parent dashboard.

    https://character.ai · captured 29 July 2026

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