ICO Collaborates Internationally In Ongoing Bid To Protect Children’s Privacy

Since the introduction of The Age Appropriate Design Code (most commonly referred to as The Children’s Code) in the UK in September 2020, The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) has continued to work tirelessly to help drive higher data protection standards in respect of children using online services.

The ICO is the UK’s independent authority set up to uphold information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for individuals.

The ICO has taken its role one step further by collaborating internationally. The UK’s Information Commissioner, John Edwards, has recently been in Washington DC to present the work of the ICO at the IAPP Global Privacy Summit.

What is the IAPP Global Privacy Summit?

The IAPP Global Privacy Summit is an annual event and is described as the biggest international gathering with a primary aim to help protect people’s personal information.

This year the conference took place on 12 and 13 April 2022. The conference is designed to be a focussed opportunity for regulators, civil society, law makers, and tech companies to meet, discuss and educate one another by contributing expertise in areas of data protection and privacy. John Edwards, on behalf of the ICO, also presented The Children’s Code as an example of how it can be used as a model for regulation to protect children all over the world.

Why is international collaboration needed?

Simply put, the answer is because the digital world is borderless.

Evidence has shown that so many of the online services children access are actually based outside of the UK. Children are being exposed to inappropriate adverts and content from around the world which promotes self-harm and suicidal thoughts without actively searching for any of it.

This makes it highly crucial for other countries to adopt a similar position to that taken in The Children’s Code, especially as many countries do not currently have the same level of regulation as the UK.

It is positive to see that since the introduction of the Code, numerous tech companies (among others) have already been prompted to reflect internally and make changes to better protect children. In addition to this, California is now looking to introduce its own children’s code as a direct result of the ICO’s work in this area. There has also been promising progress in the Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden, Canada, and Australia.

Ahead of the conference, Mr Edwards commented that:

Comment

It is evident that the ICO is playing a highly influential role in data protection on an international scale. It is also highly inspiring to see that the UK’s stance on protecting children is motivating others around the world to do all that they can to make the internet much safer for our children.

We will be keeping a close eye on and sharing any updates published following the conclusion of the conference.