According to an industry analyst, there would be a serious problem if a youngster used 40 apps on their phone, each of which contained a copy of their Aadhar card and their parents’ information.
The Economic Times (ET), social media companies have voiced their concerns about the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, stating that requiring the identity verification of millions of youngsters and their parents could be a security issue.
On Wednesday, August 10, the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill was approved by the parliament. This opens the door for the first privacy-related laws in India. According to the BBC, the Bill requires verifiable parental approval before processing children’s personal data.
The Bill defines everyone under the age of 18 as a child, which is over the global threshold. Notably, the majority of social media platforms often allow children to use them after the age of 13.
Apps may now need parental approval for users in India who are between the ages of 13 and 18. Apps will therefore need to confirm the parents’ and kids’
Speaking of the individual matter, an industry expert told ET,
“If a child uses 40 apps on the phone and each of these apps has a copy of the child’s Aadhar card along with their parents’, then it would be a big issue.”
The report also said
“Social media intermediaries have been advocating for a self-regulatory or a co-regulatory standard where the details of verifiable parental consent are spelt out. ID documentation of millions of people is an unnecessary security risk that will manifest thanks to the age-gating obligation,”.
Experts predicted that the provision will have the greatest effects on edtech, health tech, and social media sites like Google’s YouTube and Meta’s Facebook.
