Data protection and childrens online privacy

Abstract

The considerations that apply to the management and protection of children's online privacy are unique and complex. Their still-evolving maturity and lack of experience, coupled with the consequences of permanent online records of youthful actions which can stigmatize into adulthood, make children an especially vulnerable segment of the population. Children's privacy is further contextualized by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which calls upon states to 'respect and ensure the rights of children, including the right to the protection of their privacy'. This chapter examines the ways in which key jurisdictions have responded to the special privacy needs of children. In particular, we map the emergence of children's privacy as a trade issue in the United States and outline the provisions of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. We contrast the child-specific approach taken in the US with the application of general private-sector data protection principles to children's privacy issues in Canada and Australia. We then explore the transition in the European Union from general protection to child-specific provisions, and the ways in which the European commitment to privacy as both a human right and a child's right have shaped existing regulations as well as the newly enacted General Data Protection Regulation.