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And so the ICO's "children's code" comes into effect today. They're now calling it that, or the "kid's code", because if you have issues with it you must hate kids. 
What is it? It's UX standards based in GDPR for UK services targeting <18s, as a 'design code' should be. 1/
What is it? It's UX standards based in GDPR for UK services targeting <18s, as a 'design code' should be. 1/
What is it no longer? A backdoor to requiring mandatory age verification across all UK sites, services, and users, and to eroding intermediary liability law outwith Parliamentary scrutiny along the way, as its drivers wanted it to be. A lot of us worked damn hard to stop that. 2/
What could it still be? The means of infantilising under-18s into nervous wrecks which its drivers so desired, should its implementation mandate nonstop popups, warnings, AV prompts, and parental surveillance icons, pushing a state of suspicion, guilt, and fear. Be vigilant. 3/
Its real legacy? The Code and its drivers hijacked the ICO's remit from a DP regulator to a child safety think tank, to the point where its statutory remit and law enforcement obligations were sidelined and ignored. You got your Code. Now's the reckoning. http://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/news-and-events/news-and-blogs/2020/09/ico-s-children-s-code-will-help-protect-children-online/
"Under the Codeâs 15 provisions, tech firms operating in Britain will no longer be able to hide behind the âwe are platforms, not publishersâ excuse provided by US law." - The Times of London
"Oh no you f*****g don't" - Heather of Glasgow
"Oh no you f*****g don't" - Heather of Glasgow
I'm going to wrap up this thread by sharing my favourite head-on-desk anecdote from the draft consultation process. The consultation said location data was associated with "abduction, physical and mental abuse, sexual abuse and trafficking." Here are the points I made on that:
- This implies that the ICO actually believes there are mainsteam UK app studios creating those apps and putting them in app stores, and;
- They would see a nonbinding design code and say "hold on lads, that's us done, we need to pivot our business model"; and, for that matter,
- They would see a nonbinding design code and say "hold on lads, that's us done, we need to pivot our business model"; and, for that matter,
-As the code applies to under 18s, it would have banned any teenager up to and including college students from using a map app to find out where they were, a car hire app to get home, or a "find me" option to find their mates in a crowd.
I'm glad I was in that fight.
I'm glad I was in that fight.
