Barnardo's welcomes children's digital privacy code

Published on
02 September 2021

Tech giants face large fines if they fail to follow new child data and privacy protection measures that come into full force today. The Age Appropriate Design Code sets out 15 standards that companies are expected to build into any online services used by children, making data protection of young people a priority from the design up.

Michelle Lee-Izu, Co-CEO (interim), Barnardo’s, said:

"Children must be able to access the internet safely and to learn, play and socialise online. 

"We welcome the UK Government’s new age-appropriate design code, which is an important step forward in protecting children from harm online. What is also needed though is strong legislation to ensure that children are safe online through the Online Safety Bill.

"We have long called for strict sanctions for companies that fail to keep children safe and are increasingly concerned about moves to introduce end-to-end encryption which will make it easier for child sexual abusers to hide their online activity.

"Every day, children across the UK are suffering abuse and exploitation online. It’s vital that the Government includes harmful commercial pornography in the scope of the upcoming Online Safety Bill. Currently the Bill does not include measures to stop children from accessing this sort of adult content which could be harmful to a child’s development, behaviours and mental health."