A new privacy code has been set by UK data watchdog that should be followed by social media sites, online games and streaming services used by children.
UK data privacy regulator, the Information Commissioner's Office, has created the new Age Appropriate Design Code to protect children online. The new code of conduct was published on Wednesday based on a draft first introduced in April 2019.
Elizabeth Denham, the information commissioner, said future generations will be "astonished to think that we ever didn't protect kids online" and called the new code "transformational".
The regulator hopes the changes will be implemented by autumn 2021, once Parliament approves it and will impose large fines for breaches. The code includes a list of 15 standards that companies behind online services are expected to comply with.
Online services covered by the standards include toys which are connected to the internet, apps, social media platforms, online games, educational websites and streaming service.
According to the code, companies that design, develop or run such products and services need to provide a "baseline" of data protection for children. Other standards include switching off by default the location settings that would allow a child's location to be shared and privacy settings to be set to high by default and removal of nudge techniques to encourage children to weaken their settings.
Denham told the Press Association: "I believe that it will be transformational. I think in a generation from now when my grandchildren have children they will be astonished to think that we ever didn't protect kids online. I think it will be as ordinary as keeping children safe by putting on a seat belt."
News of the new code was welcomed by the father of Molly Russell, the 14-year-old who killed herself after viewing graphic content online. Ian Russell believes his daughter Molly's use of Instagram was a factor in her suicide in 2017 because her family found graphic posts about suicide and self-harm on her account after she died.
