Age-gating rules apply to all firms under data law

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

data law's mandate of verifying the age of minors through parental consent has sent scores of companies from telcos, banks, to ecommerce companies and their lawyers in a tizzy.
Not just social media platforms, but all companies will need to have age verification mechanisms, otherwise, there's no way to record the verifiable consent of users, experts told ET. The mandate will be high cost and time consuming, which is worrying all firms, they added.

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Technology, and telecommunication lawyers who are being approached for guidance on the implementation of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, have told companies to read the finer details and realise that the age-gating clause in the DPDPA is not just for social media companies and education technology platforms, a chunk of whose consumer base, are children. It will be applicable to others too who have to make sure their customers are not minors.

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DPDPA stipulates that personal data of children and persons with disabilities is processed only with the consent of such a person's parent or lawful guardian.


Shreya Suri, partner at Indus Law firm, told ET, what is confusing for some businesses is the concept of verifiable consent. What is verifiable is not defined. «While verifiable consent is not defined, the fact that you need to know