New data protection bill to peg age of 'children' at 18 years: Report

The Centre will review the definition of "children" under the upcoming Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Bill one year after its enactment, a report by The Economic Times (ET) said. Those under 18 have been called "children" under the bill. 

 

"We spoke to several stakeholders before coming to this decision. While parents want the age to be kept at 18, children and other stakeholders want it lowered. But right now, the age cut-off will be 18. We may lower it to say 16 a year after the (DPDP) Bill is in place," an official told ET.

 

The companies will be required to get parental consent before processing any data belonging to "children". The official said that if the companies put a framework to protect children in place, the age might be lowered. 

 

The decision of the Centre to keep the children's age at 18 has received pushback from the industry, the report added. Big tech companies like Meta, Google and Snap will have to get consent from the parents of those aged below 18 before processing any data. 

 

These companies have urged the Centre to lower this age.

 

The bill also says that data fiduciaries "shall not undertake tracking or behavioural monitoring of children or targeted advertising directed at children". 

 

These new norms in India are much different from those around the world. In the US, the age of children is 13, and in the European Union (EU), it is 16.