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Parental controls

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Control measure: There are parental controls in place to allow parents or guardians to place limits on a child’s online activity.

Risk: Without parental controls, there is a risk of online harm to a child, inappropriate access to services or content and mental or physical harm. This may breach article 5 (1) (a) of the UK GDPR and article 16 of the UNCRC.

Ways to meet our expectations:

  • Include options to set time limits or bedtimes, restrict internet access to pre-approved sites or services only, and restrict in-app purchases. 
  • Provide resources to help parents explain the service to their child and discuss privacy with them.
  • Provide resources to support age-appropriate discussion between a parent and child about potential online threats and harms.
  • Provide easy access to information to help parents monitor the effectiveness of controls they have set.
  • Ensure parental controls are easy to set up and manage.

Options to consider:

  • Offer 'real time alerts' for parents, ranging from if a child attempts to change any privacy settings to when a child is exposed to inappropriate content.
  • Remove parental controls automatically when a child turns 18, and inform both the child and parent that this has taken place.

 

Control measure: Age-appropriate information is provided to tell the child that parental controls are in place and monitoring or tracking is active.

Risk: If children are not aware that their use of all or aspects of the service have parental controls in place, there is a risk of a breach of article 5 (1) (a) of the UK GDPR and article 16 of the UNCRC.

Ways to meet our expectations:

  • Provide children with age-appropriate resources so that they are aware that their activity is being monitored by their parents or their location tracked.
  • Monitor and stress test the controls regularly to ensure they remain fit for purpose while still protecting children’s rights and freedoms.
  • Present children with a clear and obvious sign when parental controls are active (eg a lit up icon).

Options to consider:

  • Provide information or explanations on parental controls and monitoring using graphics or visual content. This supports accessibility and understandability.