Go back to a clean slate on data protection for children

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₹200 crore. While a child can use an internet platform once a parent provides consent, the platform is completely prohibited from tracking and monitoring the behaviour of child users, irrespective of the purpose for which such data processing is to be conducted.

This is where this approach becomes problematic. How can online platforms prevent a child from being exposed to harmful, risky or illegal content, interactions and experiences without tracking or monitoring their behaviour? How are they expected to take precautionary measures, such as alerting parents or law enforcement agencies, if the child is getting drawn towards self-harm, bullying, harassment, hate speech or other dangers? While other jurisdictions have chosen to place high responsibility on platforms for keeping children safer, the Indian law takes a diametrically opposite approach.

The law looks at “verifiable parental consent" as an end-all solution. This is in a country where less than 40% Indians are digitally literate, as per the National Sample Survey’s 78th Round (2020-21) data, with the distinct possibility of children gaming the system by using their parents’ phones/email IDs to provide consent without their knowledge.

The mere fact of parental consent is presumed to take care of any harm or risk which may befall children after they begin using the platform. To add to this, the law is willing to provide exemptions from parental consent requirements for certain platforms that will be certified as being “verifiably safe," allowing them to process data of children above a certain age (16 years) without parental consent.