The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has announced a completion deadline for their code that will translate General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements into design standards that protect children who access online services.
The code is being refined following a consultation period and will be made final on November 23, 2019.
The ICO stated that it will allow a transition period and will support organizations through this transition period in implementing privacy obligations for companies processing children’s personal data.
“The GDPR already sets out rules on how data can be used and the importance of protecting children. Our code will make the requirements clearer and help designers and developers understand what is expected of them.”
“We understand that delivering the standards set out in the code will bring challenges for the tech, e-gaming and interactive entertainment industries. There may be shifts in the design processes for online services which make greatest use of children’s data.”
“We do not want to see an age-gated internet, where visiting any digital service requires people to prove how old they are… We want providers to set their privacy settings to ‘high’ as a default, and to have strategies in place for how children’s data is handled.”