儿童守则与儿童网络隐私保护

For the public

The Children’s code and children’s online privacy

The Children’s code and children’s online privacy

Due to changes made by the Data (Use and Access) Act, this guidance is under review and may be subject to change. The Plans for new and updated guidance page will tell you about which guidance will be updated and when this will happen.

Websites, apps, games or online services need to follow a set of standards when using children’s information. These standards are known as the Children’s code.

What should I expect from the Children’s code?

Online services that children are likely to access must provide specific protections for children’s information. This might involve restricting or removing certain higher-risk features for children. The standards that online services need to follow include:

settings are set to high privacy by default;

more control over the privacy settings for children and their parents or carers; non-essential location tracking is switched off; no notifications encouraging children to lower their privacy settings; and clear and accessible tools to help children use their data protection rights, including parental consent tools.

The Children’s code creates a more positive, age-appropriate experience online. For example, having high privacy settings by default means that someone your child isn’t friends with shouldn’t be able to see your child’s profile unless these settings are changed.

How can I talk to my child about online privacy?

Our Switched on to privacy campaign aims to help parents and carers of four- to 11-year-olds talk to their children about online privacy.

Every time children go online - using apps, games or websites - information is collected about them, often without them knowing. This can include their location, browsing habits, friendships and even their mood.

Three-quarters of parents don’t think their children can make safe choices about what personal information they share online, yet one in five have never talked to them about it.

The campaign gives parents three simple steps:

Chat with your child about online privacy.

Choose actively what personal information to share.

Check the settings whenever your child uses a new device or app.

Visit our Switched on to privacy campaign hub for tips, short videos and a conversation checklist you can use straight away.

Further reading – ICO guidance

If you’re interested in finding out more, look at our Children’s code guidance and resources for organisations.