New Delhi, Jan. 12 -- An online child safety advocate has criticised Google for what she described as an alarming intrusion into parental authority, after the company emailed her 12-year-old son informing him that he would soon be eligible to turn off parental supervision on his account.

The allegation was made by Melissa McKay, president of the Digital Childhood Institute, who shared screenshots of the email and related Google help pages in a LinkedIn post that has since gained widespread attention.

According to McKay, the email told her child he was "almost 13" and would soon be able to remove parental controls and take full control of his Google account. Google's support pages state that once users turn 13, they can choose to stop ac...