Today, as part of an international project to consider privacy concerns about the type of personal information collected on children, the ICO begins a review of websites and apps used by children popular among and targeted at children.
Co-ordinated by the Global Privacy Enforcement Network, the ICO will look at 50 websites and apps, and will consider the extent of the information collected from children, how it is explained and what parental permission is sought prior to the collection. 28 other privacy enforcement authorities from around the world will mirror the ICO’s activities over the coming months with a view to publishing a combined report later this year.
ICO Head of Enforcement Steve Eckersley said: ” In the UK we are clear that apps and websites should not gather more personal data than they require, and operators would be upfront about how and why they collect information and how they use it. These principles are…especially true where children are concerned. This research should give us a valuable insight into whether companies in the UK are operating compliantly as well as how that fits with what is happening around the world.”