Websites aimed at minors fail to comply with data protection regulation.
Websites aimed at minors often collect personal data during their visit to allow them (free) access to information and games. But also in the context of contests and online services (chat, e-cards etc.) personal data of the website visitors and sometimes thirds are asked.   To protect personal data, legislative initiatives have been taken in the European Union. Moreover, institutions have made specific recommendations to protect minors online.   In order to check whether legal obligations were observed and recommendations applied, websites of organisations established in Belgium and mainly targeting kids and teens have been analysed. The results show that, while a majority (8 out of 10) collects personal data, only a minority (4 out of 10) observes the privacy rights of the young website visitors. This results from an analysis of 294 websites published in the fourth privacy paper entitled Cyberkids’ e-Privacy at stake? by Prof. dr. Michel Walrave of the University of Antwerp (Belgium).

Privacy statements summarizing information concerning the identity of the responsible for the data processing, the purpose of it and the specific privacy rights, are present in only a minority of websites harvesting personal data (4 out of 10). Furthermore, the privacy statements are often incomplete or do not use a phrasing adjusted to the target group. Also few companies involve the parents when collecting personal data, by informing them or asking their permission.

 

Therefore new initiatives of (co-)regulations could be taken to make clear when, for which purpose(s), how and which personal data of minors can be processed. How minors are informed about this and how they can exercise their privacy rights are important for the development and awareness of the growing-up consumers. Moreover, some explanation is needed about the circumstances in which the advice or permission of a parent is indispensable.

 

The purpose of the Privacy Papers is to investigate specific topics in the area of privacy protection in the information society in general and the internet in particular. Since 1992 prof. dr. Michel Walrave, author of the papers, is conducting research on the implications of the information society, especially (online) data protection and direct marketing.

In this webpage you will find also summaries (in English, French and Dutch) of former research and publications about e-privacy.

The Privacy Scan consisted of an analysis of 250 websites (in 2001 and 2002) concerning online data processing and the implementation of the Belgian privacy law.

The research instrument is an online form (of 93 items) used to examine the quantity and quality of information in the privacy statements.

The main topics of the questionnaire are:

1. Online processing of personal data
2. Types of data collected
3. Use of (permanent) cookies
4. Presence of a privacy statement
- Access
- Form
- Content
5. Mystery e-mail concerning privacy policy

This scanning of websites forms part of a series of research concerning e-privacy, namely an online survey among internet users and among webmasters (2001).