Response to the Privacy Act and inclusion of a Children’s Privacy Code

ChildFund Australia has commended legislation introduced to Parliament today by the Attorney General which seeks to strengthen protection for children through the first ever Children’s Privacy Code. The Code will be led by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner signalling an end to the outdated co-regulation approach. These are significant and welcomed changes to improving online safety for children.

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner will also receive an additional $3 million over 3 years in funding to draft the code, ensuring a robust process.

Currently, by the time a child turns 13, an estimated 72 million data points have been collected about them and. This reform offers greater protection of this precious data and significantly improves children’s online safety.

It’s been 40 years since Australia updated these laws, and the digital world has since completely changed how children connect, grow, learn and play. ChildFund is encouraged the Government is taking steps to bring Australian standards in line with the best in the world.

ChildFund Chief Executive Officer Margaret Sheehan highlighted numerous concerning ways tech companies can use children’s data.

“Children’s data is collected and used in a number of concerning ways. What content they like, what they search for, how long they hover over a particular video and what they buy all adds up to shape the digital environment around them.”

She went on to point out that the introduction of the Children’s Privacy Code is a strong first step in a raft of reforms that are needed to protect our kids online.

“A strong, effective and appropriately resourced Children’s Code would put responsibility on digital platforms to handle data in ways that are in children’s best interests and act to prevent serious harm. It has the potential to protect them from the widespread collection, sharing, sale and use of their data and stop them from being targeted with ads or addictive designs. It can limit the delivery of harmful content through algorithms, offer children a high level of privacy protection by default, and increase transparency on data use.”

‘Co-regulation’ is an outdated process whereby digital platforms hold the pen on writing the very same rules that govern them. This has demonstrably weakened codes both here in Australia and internationally, and ChildFund welcomes a shift to ensure the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, not Big Tech, write the children’s code. However, to be most effective consultation with children and young people must be mandated”

“Rights respecting privacy protection for children can’t stop here. ChildFund Australia is urging the Government to commit to a second tranche of reforms in order to fully deliver on the goodwill and intent to keep children safe.”

Critical changes that would uplift protection for children and their families that have been left out include changes to consent, consideration of children’s best interests through a fair and reasonable test and proposals to prohibit targeting to a child except when it’s in their best interests.

“Lifting safety standards through Privacy Act reform and regulation, alongside rigorous, innovative and evidence-based education resources like ChildFund’s SwipeSafe, are key to a better and safer digital environment that respects children’s rights in the digital world,” concluded Ms Sheehan.

MEDIA: Margaret Sheehan, ChildFund CEO, is available for interview.

As ChildFund Australia prepares to launch its internationally beta tested SwipeSafe program and App in Australia and other countries, a critical policy discussion will take place in Parliament House

Child rights advocates and Parliamentarians will gather in Parliament House on 2 July for a forum highlighting the practical and policy solutions required to keep children safe in digital environments, with a clear window of opportunity on the immediate horizon.

In the countries and communities in which ChildFund Australia works, the rapid digital transformation of children’s lives has presented acute risks for their protection and wellbeing. ChildFund responded with the creation of the Swipe Safe program and app which serves to immediately strengthens children’s knowledge, skills and behaviours to keep themselves safe online.

“We wanted to contribute to the solution by putting a solution back into the hands of children so they can be a participant in their own safety,” said ChildFund CEO, Margaret Sheehan. “Swipe Safe is a program that goes beyond just raising awareness, and builds their knowledge and critical thinking skills. This is now a globally scalable solution, as we have transformed the curriculum into a deeply interactive, innovative and participatory app.”

Global data presents a clear picture of the prevalence of child sexual abuse material, cyber bullying, online coercion, online sexual exploitation and abuse, addictive-by-design platforms and children’s data collection.

The volume of child sexual abuse material being reported has increased by 87 per cent since 2019, with new and evolving forms including AI-generated CSAM imagery. In South East Asia online child sexual abuse and exploitation is experience by as many as 20 per cent of children.

Swipe Safe has been beta tested in five separate phases, directly involving face-to-face training and app testing with tens of thousands of children in Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Fiji and the Solomon Islands. It has since been piloted in Australia and the Solomon Islands. Soon it will be launched into operation in Indonesia, the Philippines, Ecuador, Brazil, various countries in Africa, and in Australia.

“The digital safety of children requires an approach that doesn’t just keep them safe or protect them from the worst of harms, but one that also preserves their digital rights to play, to learn, to access information, and to connect,” Ms Sheehan said. “Digital environments are here to stay, and a solid part of an exciting future for children. But we can’t ask children to navigate unsafe systems – we need to ensure the digital technology and platforms are safe, which requires a collective effort and cooperation between governments, the tech industry and civil society, with children’s best interests as the driving force.”

With review of the Online Safety Act underway, a Children’s Privacy Code which could be adopted in legislation slated for August this year, Australia could be positioned to secure impressive change. But the bar has been raised internationally and Australia can do more to adopt international best practice.  What are the emerging digital safety issues for children? What do the priority solutions look like? And what leadership can Australia show to create positive outcomes and impact for all children – In ChildFund’s case, in Australia and the Asia Pacific?