G’day fellow Aussie trainers! A heads-up if you log into your Pokémon GO account using Google ID.
From 27 December 2025, new Australian online safety regulations will require Google to implement age-assurance measures for logged-in users of their search engine services. While Pokémon GO is not directly targeted by the social media age ban, you might still be asked to verify your age to keep using your Google ID as your pogo login.
The new laws require Google to offer multiple verification options. According to ABC News, the methods being considered include:
* Photo ID checks
* Face scanning age estimation tools
* Credit card checks
* Digital ID
* Vouching by the parent of a young person
* Using AI to guess a user's age based on the data the company already has
* Relying on a third party that has already checked the user's age
Here’s the link to the article: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-11/age-verification-search-engines/105516256
If, like me, you are trying to avoid providing sensitive biometrics or personal documents to minimise data breach risks, you might want to consider alternative login methods. At the moment, linking your account to Apple ID seems to be the least intrusive method, as Apple is not required to implement age checks (for now). Pokémon Trainer Club login is not recommended due to it being most vulnerable to attack. Facebook login, of course, is required to implement mandatory age verification.
A note on VPNs: I'm not sure if VPN would be an effective workaround here. Pogo requires location service to be enabled, and using VPN could potentially trigger ToS violations, which might risk a ban.
by SirNeverEvil