On January 21, 2020, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office published the final version of the Age Appropriate Design Code, a collection of 15 standards that online businesses should follow in order to protect the privacy of children. Its purpose is to require anyone providing online digital services to automatically provide children with a basic level of data protection when they download apps and games or access websites, with the ultimate goal of ensuring a safe space for children to learn and play, while minimizing the amount of data collected from them by default. The Code is based on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act of 2018. It was submitted to the Secretary of State by the ICO last November. Once it is approved by Parliament, businesses will have 12 months to update their data protection practices before the code takes effect, most likely in the Fall of 2021.
ICO News Post | ICO’s Executive Summary of the Age Appropriate Design Code