The ICO has opened a consultation on standards to protect the privacy of children. Once finalised, the set of standards will be the first code of practice of its kind. The code sets out 16 standards of “age-appropriate design” for services like apps, social media platforms, online games, streaming services and connected toys.

“This is the connected generation. The internet and all its wonders are hardwired into their everyday lives,” said Elizabeth Denham, the Information Commissioner. “We shouldn’t have to prevent our children from being able to use it, but we must demand that they are protected when they do. This code does that.”

According to Denham, the code of conduct is “complementary” to the government’s ongoing work on tackling online harms. Earlier this month, the government published a white paper which proposed establishing a legal duty of care for online platforms, alongside an independent internet regulator which could levy significant fines and even hold senior executives responsible when they fail to tackle seriously harmful material on their platforms, such as videos of terrorist attacks.

The ICO’s proposed code of conduct notably requires that privacy is an integral part of these services, rather than being bolted on as an afterthought. The 16 points in the code of conduct are rooted in existing data protection laws enforced by the watchdog.

Only the minimum amount of personal should be collected and stored; children’s data should not be shared unless under very specific circumstances; location tracking should be kept to a minimum, and ‘nudge techniques’ to manipulate user behaviour should not be used.

The concept of ‘nudges’ in behavioural science is centred on the idea of subtly influencing individual or group behaviour using indirect suggestions and reinforcement. The concept has become popular in UK and US governments and in business. Tech companies may use nudges to encourage users to spend more time on the service, click on ads and share their data. For instance, Snapchat ‘streaks’ provide a small psychological reward to people who use the service regularly.

According to the ICO’s draft code of conduct, nudge techniques should not be used to encourage children to behave in certain ways, such as to loosen their privacy settings or provide unnecessary personal data. The standards explicitly mention Facebook ‘likes’ and Snapchat ‘streaks’.

Additionally, the standards require that “small print’ explaining privacy information and community standards should be prominent and written in clear, comprehensible language; that companies must not use children’s data in a way “shown to be detrimental to their wellbeing” and should not surreptitiously target content to them based on their profile; that geolocation should be switched off by default, and that children understand parental monitoring.

These standards should be fulfilled by all online services unless they “have robust age-verification mechanisms to distinguish adults from children”.

Children’s rights campaigner Baroness Beeban Kidron, who led the parliamentary debate about the creation of the code of conduct, commented in a statement: “I welcome the draft code released today, which represents the beginning of a new deal between children and the tech sector. For too long we have failed to recognise children’s rights and needs online, with tragic outcomes.

“I firmly believe in the power of technology to transform lives, be a force for good and rise to the challenge of promoting the rights and safety of our children. In order to fulfil that role, it must consider the best interests of children, not simply its own commercial interests.”

The proposals were welcomed by the NSPCC, with Andy Burrows, head of child safety, calling for the code to go hand-in-hand with the government’s commitments to confront online harms.

The standards will be open for consultation until 31 May 2019, after which a final version will be sent to Parliament for approval. It is likely to come into effect by the end of 2019.

The ICO has opened a consultation on standards to protect the privacy of children. Once finalised, the set of standards will be the first code of practice of its kind. The code sets out 16 standards of “age-appropriate design” for services like apps, social media platforms, online games, streaming services and connected toys.

“This is the connected generation. The internet and all its wonders are hardwired into their everyday lives,” said Elizabeth Denham, the Information Commissioner. “We shouldn’t have to prevent our children from being able to use it, but we must demand that they are protected when they do. This code does that.”

According to Denham, the code of conduct is “complementary” to the government’s ongoing work on tackling online harms. Earlier this month, the government published a white paper which proposed establishing a legal duty of care for online platforms, alongside an independent internet regulator which could levy significant fines and even hold senior executives responsible when they fail to tackle seriously harmful material on their platforms, such as videos of terrorist attacks.

The ICO’s proposed code of conduct notably requires that privacy is an integral part of these services, rather than being bolted on as an afterthought. The 16 points in the code of conduct are rooted in existing data protection laws enforced by the watchdog.

Only the minimum amount of personal should be collected and stored; children’s data should not be shared unless under very specific circumstances; location tracking should be kept to a minimum, and ‘nudge techniques’ to manipulate user behaviour should not be used.

The concept of ‘nudges’ in behavioural science is centred on the idea of subtly influencing individual or group behaviour using indirect suggestions and reinforcement. The concept has become popular in UK and US governments and in business. Tech companies may use nudges to encourage users to spend more time on the service, click on ads and share their data. For instance, Snapchat ‘streaks’ provide a small psychological reward to people who use the service regularly.

According to the ICO’s draft code of conduct, nudge techniques should not be used to encourage children to behave in certain ways, such as to loosen their privacy settings or provide unnecessary personal data. The standards explicitly mention Facebook ‘likes’ and Snapchat ‘streaks’.

Additionally, the standards require that “small print’ explaining privacy information and community standards should be prominent and written in clear, comprehensible language; that companies must not use children’s data in a way “shown to be detrimental to their wellbeing” and should not surreptitiously target content to them based on their profile; that geolocation should be switched off by default, and that children understand parental monitoring.

These standards should be fulfilled by all online services unless they “have robust age-verification mechanisms to distinguish adults from children”.

Children’s rights campaigner Baroness Beeban Kidron, who led the parliamentary debate about the creation of the code of conduct, commented in a statement: “I welcome the draft code released today, which represents the beginning of a new deal between children and the tech sector. For too long we have failed to recognise children’s rights and needs online, with tragic outcomes.

“I firmly believe in the power of technology to transform lives, be a force for good and rise to the challenge of promoting the rights and safety of our children. In order to fulfil that role, it must consider the best interests of children, not simply its own commercial interests.”

The proposals were welcomed by the NSPCC, with Andy Burrows, head of child safety, calling for the code to go hand-in-hand with the government’s commitments to confront online harms.

The standards will be open for consultation until 31 May 2019, after which a final version will be sent to Parliament for approval. It is likely to come into effect by the end of 2019.