New guidance has been issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to help game developers protect children. This guidance follows a series of voluntary audits of game developers, studios, and publishers within the game industry.
The audits were carried out with the intention of having a better understanding of how The Children’s Code applies in the games sector and what steps companies can take to make sure they are complying with the code.
The Age Appropriate Design Code (most commonly referred to as The Children’s Code) was introduced in the UK in 2020. The intention behind the code is to protect children in the digital world. The code confirms that companies developing apps, games and websites used by children should ensure that:
- Privacy settings are high by default;
- Geo-location services are switched off; and
- Nudge techniques and notifications are not used.
The new guidance released by the ICO is titled “Top tips for game designers – how to comply with the Children’s code”. As the name suggests, the ICO has compiled a list of recommendations for game developers to consider when designing gameplay. Such recommendations include:
- Identifying if players are under the age of 18 with a reasonable degree of certainty;
- Ensuring that games are not detrimental to children’s health and well-being;
- Turning off behavioural profiling for marketing by default. If a child chooses to opt in to receiving ads, measures should be implemented to control or monitor product placement or advertisement; and
- Discouraging the use of nudge techniques that can encourage children to make poor privacy decisions.
The ICO within their guidance has provided some suggestions on how each of the above recommendations can be achieved. A full copy of the guidance can be found on the ICO’s website.
The Group Manager at the ICO, Leanne Doherty has made the following comment in relation to the guidance:
“Gaming plays a central part in so many young people’s lives, and the community and interaction around games can be a child’s first steps into the digital world. We want those first experiences to be positive ones, and the recommendations we’ve published today are there to support games developers.
The Children’s Code makes clear that children are not like adults online, and their data needs greater protections.
We want children to be online, learning, playing and experiencing the world, but with the right protections in place to do so.
93% of children in the U.K play video games with younger children playing an average of two to three hours per day whereas older children on average are playing three or more hours.”
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Ruby Ashby is an Associate in our expert Dispute Resolution team.
If you need any advice concerning the subjects discussed in this article, please do not hesitate to contact Ruby or another member of the team in Derby, Leicester, or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online enquiry form.
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