<p>Anyone under 13 years of age but wanting a Facebook account to connect with friends, would now be able to do so now but with parents' approval first.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The social networking site has filed a patent with the US Federal Trade Commission that would make it possible for children under 13 to set up an account as long as they have approval from their parents.<br /><br />So, if an underage user tries to access the site, Facebook would ask for "parental authorisation" via an existing account.<br /><br />The child would tell Facebook who its parents are before the site runs a validity check on the parent's account to confirm the relationship, and the age of the user, Facebook said in the patent.<br /><br />"Upon successful verification, the online service allows the identified user to authorise account creation for the child user, and/or manage the account and actions of the child user," Facebook officials told MailOnline.<br /><br />Once an underage account had been linked to a parental one, the adults would be able to limit and monitor their child's behaviour.<br /><br />They would also have complete control of the child's privacy and applications on the site.<br />Facebook was criticised last year for letting teenagers make their posts public.</p>
<p>Anyone under 13 years of age but wanting a Facebook account to connect with friends, would now be able to do so now but with parents' approval first.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The social networking site has filed a patent with the US Federal Trade Commission that would make it possible for children under 13 to set up an account as long as they have approval from their parents.<br /><br />So, if an underage user tries to access the site, Facebook would ask for "parental authorisation" via an existing account.<br /><br />The child would tell Facebook who its parents are before the site runs a validity check on the parent's account to confirm the relationship, and the age of the user, Facebook said in the patent.<br /><br />"Upon successful verification, the online service allows the identified user to authorise account creation for the child user, and/or manage the account and actions of the child user," Facebook officials told MailOnline.<br /><br />Once an underage account had been linked to a parental one, the adults would be able to limit and monitor their child's behaviour.<br /><br />They would also have complete control of the child's privacy and applications on the site.<br />Facebook was criticised last year for letting teenagers make their posts public.</p>