On Monday, Denmark announced plans to raise the age restriction for tech companies like Google, Snapchat, and Meta to collect personal data from youngsters.
It seeks to raise the age at which minors can consent to share personal data with tech companies from 13 to 15–16. Companies will need parental authorization to utilize data from children younger than that.
“The tech giants must take greater responsibility,” business minister Morten Bodskov said as the government announced measures to limit tech giants’ influence.
“We must put an end to their opaque algorithms, which use crazy methods to keep children and adults in front of the screen and harvest unimaginable amounts of personal information.”
Germany has a 16-year age limit, and other European countries, including Hungary, Lithuania, and the Netherlands, are considering similar regulations.
An online privacy measure in the US would prohibit firms from collecting personal information from 16-year-olds without consent and force them to let them delete their data. The expert panel’s recommendations will become law later this year.
The commerce ministry stated they would also implement age-verification methods on websites and applications to protect youngsters from sensitive information like porn and war movies.