"Report Explores Child’s Data Safety Legislation Across 50 Countries"

Comparitech has released a new report exploring legislation about child data collection in the world’s top 50 countries by gross domestic product (GDP).  The researchers assessed 23 different aspects of these policies to assess whether specific legislation was in place for children’s online data or not.  Aspects examined included requirements for privacy policies, parental consent and authority, and restrictions on who had access to the data internally.  All the aspects were then assigned a score, and countries were ranked based on the collective score they achieved.  The researchers stated that of the 50 countries on the list, 18 were entirely lacking legislation to address the collection and processing of children’s data online.  The researchers noted that in the nations where specific safeguards for processing children’s data were present, the legal system allowed for loopholes for government treatment of children’s data, for instance, for public safety.  Additionally, none of the countries on the list had rules against the online government surveillance of children.  The researchers stated that in terms of the nations that ranked higher, France was at the top, with 34.5 out of 44 points.  The country scored two points higher than the rest of the EU as its legislation allowed children to be, in some cases, involved in the consent process alongside their parent/guardian.  Other countries in the European Union (except Switzerland) ranked 32.5, mainly due to the safeguards on children’s data provided by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).  As far as the US is concerned, the country scored 29.5, presenting a lack of comprehensive children’s data protection.   According to the researchers, COPPA legislation established some safeguards, but these seem to be currently scarcely followed by many Android developers.

Infosecurity reports: "Report Explores Child’s Data Safety Legislation Across 50 Countries"