NEW DELHI: The government has taken steps to make parental consent mandatory for children to open social media accounts. The Center in the draft Data Protection norms has mentioned that “verifiable consent of parents that the data collecting entity must obtain before processing the personal data of children”.
Consent must be obtained before any data processing activities. This means that organizations cannot begin using or storing a child’s personal data until they have confirmed that parents have given their approval.
The draft rules have made provisions relating to processing of consent of individuals, data processing bodies and functioning of authorities under the Digital Data Protection Act, 2023.
The long-awaited draft, however, does not mention any criminal action for violations.
The law provides for imposing a penalty of up to Rs 250 million on data fiduciaries, entities responsible for determining the purpose and means of processing personal data.
“…notification is hereby given that the said draft rules will be taken into consideration after February 18, 2025,” the notification said.
The government has asked for objections and suggestions to be submitted on the MyGov website (https://mygov.in).
