The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has confirmed that by November 23, 2019, it will present its Age Appropriate Design Code of Practice to the UK Parliament for approval. Unless Parliament objects, this mandatory code will be issued and in force (albeit with a transition period) as early as January 2020.

The final code has been hotly anticipated since the call for input on the issue of age appropriate design in June 2018. Since then, the ICO has worked with a large number of stakeholders to understand the key challenges when designing child-accessible services. In that context, it published its draft iteration of the code for consultation earlier this year (the Draft Code). This Draft Code sets out 16 standards (the Standards) which must be followed when designing online services accessible to children under 18. In an August update, the ICO recognized that the code will cause shifts in the design processes for online services which make use of children’s data, such as the tech, e-gaming and interactive entertainment industries. In light of this the ICO, as well as providing clearer guidelines in the code itself, will provide additional guidance for designers and engineers. The ICO adds, however, that non-compliance is not an option, stressing that “[t]here is no room for companies who decide children’s privacy is a problem that’s simply too hard to solve.” Continue Reading