The transparency challenge: making children aware of their data protection rights and the risks online1

摘要

Lifting the veil of invisibilityIt is timely to focus on children as key stakeholders in the digital ecosystem as we look towards 25 May 2018 and the application of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) across Europe. Post 25 May 2018, for the first time there will be a data protection law at EU level which lifts the veil of invisibility that some would say has hitherto shrouded child users of online and digital services. As recent academic research has highlighted, an estimated one third of internet users across the globe are under 18s. However, as child safely organisations such as the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children have pointed out, these internet users are often operating in a world that was not originally designed with them in mind and still rails to recognise them as key players.