Kids, Parents Tell Australia That Online Privacy Matters
Kids' online privacy matters, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) concluded after completing a consultation with children, parents and carers.
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A child privacy code required by a 2024 law is under development at the OAIC and is set to take effect at the end of 2026. The code “will specify how online services that are likely to be accessed by children must comply with the Australian Privacy Principles,” OAIC said Thursday.
“We want to ensure that the Code reflects the real experiences and needs of children and their families,” said the OAIC, so the regulator sought their comments in May and June. About 340 participants answered questions about online privacy, it said.
“The findings demonstrate that online privacy is important to all participants,” said an OAIC summary document. “Children and young people expressed that they want to feel in control when they share personal information online and trust that their personal information is being handled responsibly.”
Also, most young people said they don’t like when information is shared without their knowledge, and they want to trust the entities with whom they share information, it said.
“Children and young people want to be asked permission, before their personal information is collected, used, and, or disclosed,” the report said. “The findings also show that parents and carers are often faced with the scenario of having to read a long and complicated privacy policy, in order to consent to their child using educational apps at school. Most parents and carers said that they did not think that this was fair.”
On location tracking, OAIC found that nearly “half of primary school aged children said that apps or websites should not be allowed to track where they go,” and “the majority of high school aged young people, parents and carers think that online companies should not be allowed to have location tracking automatically on.”