Parental consent before using a child’s personal data: Aadhaar-based age tokens can solve a privacy problem

Source: The post parental consent before using a child’s personal data has been created, based on the article “Aadhaar-based age tokens can solve a privacy problem” published in “Live mints” on 10th April 2024.

UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 2-governance-Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

News: The article discusses India’s DPDP Act of 2023, specifically Section 9, which requires companies to get parental consent before using a child’s personal data, aiming to protect children’s privacy online. It suggests using zero-knowledge proofs with Aadhaar, India’s digital ID system, to verify age without revealing personal information, making the internet safer for kids.

For details information on Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023, read here

What are the issues with India’s Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023?

Mandatory Age Verification: The DPDP Act requires businesses to confirm if users are children. This means verifying the age of every user, which is complex and intrusive.

Increased Friction in Online Experience: Age verification adds steps to browsing, disrupting the seamless experience of moving between websites.

Potential for Increased Data Collection: The act could unintentionally give businesses a reason to collect more personal data, under the guise of complying with the law.

Global Precedents: Similar laws, like the UK’s Children Online Harms Act, also impose age-gating, suggesting this approach is gaining traction globally.

What is the proposed solution?

The proposed solution to the challenges posed by India’s DPDP Act is the use of zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) in combination with Aadhaar, India’s digital identity system.

This method allows age verification without disclosing other personal information. By generating a digital token through Aadhaar, users can prove their age anonymously when accessing websites.

This approach aims to maintain privacy while complying with the age verification requirements of the law. addresses the friction and privacy concerns by providing a streamlined and secure method for age verification, leveraging India’s existing digital identity infrastructure.

This method, while based on India’s Aadhaar system, offers a framework that could be adapted worldwide for online age verification.

Questions for practice:

Discuss how zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) with Aadhaar could address the challenges posed by India’s DPDP Act of 2023 regarding age verification and online privacy protection for children.