ICO shares plans to scrutinize protection of children’s privacy in popular mobile games
The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has announced that it will be scrutinizing how children’s privacy is protected when playing popular mobile games.
The ICO says around 90 percent of children in the UK play games on digital devices and 84 percent of parents are concerned about potential exposure to strangers or harmful content.
To address this, the ICO says it will review the top ten most popular mobile games, assessing their compliance with privacy settings, geolocation controls, and targeted advertising practices. The organization will also review any other privacy issues raised in the process.
“Children’s online experiences are shaped not just by social media and video sharing platforms, but also by the games they play. Our early review suggests that many mobile games’ design features can be especially intrusive, raising important questions about how these games are designed and experienced, and their adherence to the ICO’s Children’s code standards,” explains John Edwards, UK Information Commissioner.
“We’re expanding our strategy to ensure that mobile games meet the same high standards of data protection we’ve driven across other platforms.”
The ICO previously announced its Children’s Code Strategy, which has seen a number of social networks and video sharing platforms make changes to the way they manage data protection for children.
The strategy has seen popular platforms introduce changes such as giving children private profiles by default, and restricting the visibility of child users.
