NEW DELHI: The government has moved to make parental consent mandatory for children to open social media account. The Centre in draft rules for Data Protection has mentioned that “verifiable consent of parents to be obtained by data collecting entity before processing children’s personal data”.
The consent must be obtained prior to any data processing activities. This means organisations cannot start using or storing the child’s personal data until they have confirmed that the parent has given approval.
The draft rules have laid out provisions related to consent processing of individuals, data processing bodies and the functioning of authorities under the Digital Data Protection Act, 2023.
The long-awaited draft, however, do not mention any penal action for violations.
The Act has the provision to impose a penalty of up to Rs 250 crore on data fiduciaries — entities responsible for determining the purpose and means of processing of personal data.
“…notice is hereby given that the said draft rules shall be taken into consideration after 18th February, 2025,” the notification said.
The government has called for objections and suggestions to be submitted on MyGov website (https://mygov.in).
