Centre proposes parental approval for children's social media accounts in draft Digital Data Protection Act

The Union government has released the long-awaited draft of Digital Personal Data Protection Rules which specify that parent's verifiable consent will have to be obtained by social media or online platforms before children can create any account. Further, parents' identity and age will also have to be validated and verified through voluntarily provided identity proof "issued by an entity entrusted by law or the Government", as per the draft rules.

"A Data Fiduciary shall adopt appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure that verifiable consent of the parent is obtained before the processing of any personal data of a child," the draft rule said. E-commerce, social media and gaming platforms will fall under the category of data fiduciaries.

The draft rules, which have been published for public consultations, will be taken into consideration for making the final rule after February 18. The draft is available on MyGov website for public comments. According to the draft rules, data fiduciaries will have to keep the data only for the time being for which consent has been provided and delete it thereafter. The draft rules have been issued after 14 months of Parliament approving the Digital Data Protection Bill 2023.