The ICO exists to empower you through information.

Standard 1 of the Children’s code requires online services to treat the best interests of the child as a primary consideration when designing and developing online services likely to be accessed by a child.

To consider whether you are acting in the best interests of children, you must consider how your use of their data impacts the rights they hold under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

To help you makes this assessment, we have created tools, templates and guidance.

Best interests of the child overview

Learn about what is involved in the best interests of the child self-assessment.

Step 1: Understand rights

Understand the rights of the child under the UNCRC.

Step 2: Identify impacts

Identify potential impacts on the rights of the child in your product or service.

Step 3: Assess impacts

Consider the likelihood and scale of potential impacts on the rights of children.

Step 4: Prioritising actions

Create an action plan for issues highlighted in your risk assessment.

Tools & templates for your organisation

Download the tools and templates to help you with your assessment.

 

If you’d like to understand what the UNCRC is and what it means for online services, read this article: