The protection of each user is – or should be – of primary importance for any natural or legal person who processes personal data. However, in cases where the user is a minor, ensuring his protection must be non-negotiable.
Any natural or legal person who processes Personal Data is obliged to take appropriate measures to ensure the safe navigation of underage users on its website and its compliance with the established laws.
What will we see in this post?
General Data Protection Regulation and Minor Users
The main legislation concerning both the regulation of “Cookies” and the Terms of Use is the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 (for more specific information, check our article about the GDPR).
This regulation specifically regulates the conditions that must be met when processing the Personal Data of minor users, and in particular the consent that must be obtained for the processing of their Personal Data.
The Internet provides very serious challenges to our ability to keep from children the kinds of things that are destructive to them.
John Ashcroft
More specifically, Article 8 of the General Data Protection Regulation states that:
- The processing of the Personal Data (otherwise Personal Data) of the minor user (aged 13-16 according to the Regulation) is legally permissible only if the person with parental responsibility for the minor user is in accordance with the processing, with his explicit consent. Explicit consent may be given by the minor himself/herself if he/she is at least 16 years of age.
- Article 8 of the General Regulation on the Protection of Personal Data enables the Member States of the European Union to determine at their discretion the age limit of the minor user, required to obtain the consent or approval of the person with parental responsibility.
- The data controller must be sure that the person with parental responsibility for the minor user consents to the processing of the Personal Data of the minor user.
Learn more in our article about Minors and GDPR.
What is a Data Controller?
According to Article 4 of the General Regulation on the Protection of Personal Data, the Data Controller is “the natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body” (reference to No.4) who has the obligation to:
- define the means by which personal means will be processed
- indicate for what purpose (s) this data will be processed
To find out more about data and the data controller, you can read our introductory article on Personal Data.
Conclusions
It is understood that the safety of minors on the Internet must be fully ensured. However, by properly informing minor users about safe
Internet browsing, supporting and promoting it by the persons who exercise parental responsibility over the minor, and by ensuring that each website complies with the orders of the applicable legislation, the difficulties, and risks will be mitigated. After all, if minor users learn to protect themselves early on, it lays another foundation for a modern and secure “online” society.
Author
