Several code standards place an emphasis on service features that impact how children understand and engage with how their data is used. Service features highlighted include:
- Standard 4. Transparency. Service and user experience features to consider include privacy information and data activation points (where the standard states children should be provided with a “just-in-time” notice explaining how data will be used at that point).
- 6. Policies and community standards. Service and user experience features to consider include privacy policies, terms and conditions, content policies, user behaviour policies, pricing and membership agreements and data sharing policies. You should consider all these at the user registration stage.
- 7. Default settings. Service and user experience features to consider include settings and data activation moments for data sharing between users, with third parties, and within your organisation and service. Other features to consider include software and app updates and multi-user account log-ins. This is because the standard also states that user choices should be retained during updates and children should be supported to choose their own settings on multi-user devices and services.
- 10. Geolocation. Service and user experience features to consider include geolocation activation and deactivation points, features that indicate when geolocation tracking is active and settings relating to geolocation.
- 11. Parental controls. Service and user experience features to consider include specific parental control activation points, and privacy information referencing parental controls.
- 12. Profiling. Service and user experience features to consider include profiling-based age estimation moments, personalised adverts, content recommendations and other personalised user experiences and any other profiling activation moments.
- 13. Nudge techniques. Service and user experience features to consider include privacy choice moments and opportunities to provide information and choices that support children’s general well-being. (The standard encourages you consider nudges that promote health and wellbeing, such as nudging them towards safety resources and information about their data rights.)
- 14. Connected toys and devices. Service and user experience features to consider include point of purchase (where clear privacy information should be provided, eg on packaging), device set up and user onboarding or registration, and data processing and collection points (eg listening mode for smart speakers).
- 15. Online tools. Service and user experience features to consider include tools for exercising data rights, service features that allow children to access these tools, user onboarding or registration (you should provide information on data rights at this point), and features that communicate the progress of data rights requests.