Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Our amendment No. 15 substitutes "16 years" for "13 years".

I have spoken on this issue on Second and Committee Stages so will not overly detain the House. I have made clear that I favour a digital age of consent of 16. The advocates for a digital age of consent of 13 have argued that children have a right to a voice online and to participation. However, the digital age of consent applies only when the personal data of children is being gathered and processed. Children under the digital age of consent should be provided with platforms that do not exploit their personal data as a condition of their use, which is particularly important for vulnerable younger children who should not have to rely on parental consent. The issue here is the provision of safe spaces online that protect children's anonymity and platforms which do not profile them on the basis of personal data. Relying on commercial platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and others to provide such safe spaces or attempting to use them as such arguably put vulnerable children at risk. Risk may also arise from an unintentional breach a child's anonymity, his or her targeting through advertising and marketing campaigns based on his or her interactions online or potential exposure to individuals online who might not have the child's best interests at heart. I am speaking euphemistically there but people will understand to what I refer. A digital age of consent of 16 would be in line with that in place in Germany, the Netherlands, France and other countries which have best-in-class approaches to protecting children online. The political position in the Netherlands in adopting 16 as the digital age of consent was based on two simple principles: that parents must parent and that medical consent is granted at the age of 16 and, that being so, it followed that the digital age of consent was also set at 16. Many parents with genuine concerns about the age being set at 13 have contacted me on this issue.

The Committee on Children and Youth Affairs had a discussion with Professor Barry O'Sullivan of University College Cork and Dr. Mary Aiken on this issue in the context of cybersecurity for children and young adults. Professor O'Sullivan stated:

For clarification, the digital age of consent is not about when a child can access the Internet, it is merely the age at which a child can consent to a profiling of their personal data and that is it. It is not about access, it is just the age at which a child can say he or she is happy to be profiled by a social media company or by a game. Notably, Ireland has opted for 13, the lowest age of digital consent allowed under the GDPR. The Data Protection Bill 2018, which enshrines an Irish digital age of consent of 13, was submitted to the Seanad on 8 February 2018 and is currently under consideration.

He further stated:

There is a need to stop conflating a child's right to access information online with the digital age of consent which specifically relates to the age at which a child can sign legal agreements with online service providers who gather, profile, sell, and commercialise personal data. We both agree that this conflation has mis-stepped the entire debate on the digital age of consent in Ireland because people think it is about access when it is not.

One could argue that the GDPR, which sets a digital age of consent of 16 but allows member states to lower it to 13 or otherwise, does not take account of the points dealt with by amendments Nos. 13 and 14. Amendment No. 13 states: "It shall be an offence under this Act for any company or corporate body to process the personal data of a child as defined by section 29 for the purposes of direct marketing, profiling or micro-targeting, for financial gain." It would be useful to hear the Minister's justification for not having within the legislation very clearly delineated lines regarding the exploitation of children in terms of the use of their information for direct marketing or profiling purposes or for micro-targeting, as the amendment states.

One could argue the digital age of consent is a moot point because the age verification issues of which all Members are aware have not been resolved. Members are quite tuned in to the fact that notwithstanding what we legislate for, anybody of any age will be able to access information and create false profiles. However, on the balance of probability, to set the digital age of consent at 16, as is the case across Europe, would be the best possible course of action here. A digital age of consent of 16 is the best of a bad set of choices in terms of seeking to provide some legal protection for those under the age of 16. The issue of self-verification was also dealt with at the Committee on Children and Youth Affairs. It was told that self-verification does not work but that there is potentially a role for Ireland to be a leader in that regard and that could be done through the Data Protection Commissioner and so on.

We intend to press amendment No. 15. This is about legislating to provide maximum protection against the exploitation of children.

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