University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law
Publication Date
Summer 2024
First Page
953
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Fueled by the Internet of Things and various other technological developments, information about children’s daily activities and social interactions are progressively migrating to the digital sphere. In response to the rapid datafication of children and in accordance with the United Kingdom’s Data Protection Act of 2018, the Information Commissioner’s Office issued the Age-Appropriate Design Code (“U.K. Design Code”), which became enforceable in September 2021. Approximately one year later in September 2022, California enacted the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (“California Design Act”). The California Design Act is modeled after the U.K. Design Code. This Article is one of the first legal scholarship to comparatively analyze in-depth the California Design Act and the U.K. Design Code. This Article advances current privacy law and comparative law scholarly literature by shedding light on relatively substantive similarities and differences between the U.K. Design Code and the California Design Act while conducting a broader field of inquiry that offers potential reasons for the notable differences between both frameworks. The Article also simultaneously conducts a detailed evaluation of the California Design Act’s potential to protect children’s privacy in the modern era in light of the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998. Children’s online and traditional offline daily actions are increasingly monitored and monetized. The Article concludes by offering a path forward to better safeguard children’s privacy in the United States.
Repository Citation
Stacy-Ann Elvy,
Age-Appropriate Design Code Mandates,
45
U. Pa. J. Int’l L.
953
(2024).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/jil/vol45/iss4/3