Watchdog cracks down on tech firms that fail to protect children

Technology companies will be required to assess their sites for sexual abuse risks, prevent self-harm and pro-suicide content, and block children from broadcasting their location, after the publication of new rules for “age-appropriate design” in the sector.

The UK Information Commissioner’s Office, which was tasked with creating regulations to protect children online, will enforce the new rules from autumn 2021, after one-year transition period. After which companies that break the law can face sanctions comparable to those under GDPR, including fines of up to £17m or 4% of global turnover.

Companies that make services likely to be accessed by a child will have to take account of 15 principles designed to ensure their services do not cause harm by default. Those include:

• a requirement to default privacy settings to high, unless there is a compelling reason not to;
• orders to switch off geolocation by default, and to turn off visible location tracking at the end of every session;
• a block on using “nudge techniques to lead or encourage children to provide unnecessary personal data or weaken or turn off their privacy protections”;
• a requirement on sites to uphold their stated terms, policies and community standards.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jan/22/tech-firms-fail-protect-children-sexual-abuse-suicide-safety-privacy