Professor Barry O'Sullivan:

No. The Deputy is referring to Article 8 of the GDPR. I have it right in front of me. It is four lines long and there is also a little rider.

Article 8 of the general data protection regulation, GDPR, states, where consent is required:

In relation to the offer of information society services directly to a child, the processing of the personal data of a child shall be lawful where the child is at least 16 years old. Where the child is below the age of 16 years, such processing shall be lawful only if and to the extent that consent is given or authorised by the holder of parental responsibility over the child.

The next line simply states member states can lower the age to 13 years. The only thing that is in Article 8 is a reference to the contract with the individual for the provision of services and it is only about the processing of personal data.

I agree that people have engaged in the debate in good faith, but there has been a conflation between a child's right to access the Internet and information. Nobody disputes its importance provided the content is age appropriate, but that not what the digital age of consent is all about. For example, it does not apply if no personal data are being shared. Therefore, when someone goes online to do one's homework, his or her personal data are not being shared and one is not being profiled. If advertising is not presented to a person while he or she is online, one is not being profiled. When someone browses Wikipedia or visits the many websites that allow a person to play games, he or she is not being profiled. It is only where one signs up to a service that someone's personal data are gathered and processed.