Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Article 8 of the GDPR deals with the issue of consent to the processing of personal data in connection with what we call information society services. That is the headline language that is used. The article itself proposes 16 years as the minimum age at which a child may independently consent to such processing.

Younger children's data may be processed "only if, and to the extent, that consent is given or authorised by the holder of parental responsibility over the child".

Our approach to a digital age of consent of 16 years is to facilitate parents to give them the opportunity to parent, not create a situation where the law gives a 13 year old the right to consent to profiling and the use of his or her personal information for all sorts of service, be it exploitative or not. I do not believe we should legislate on the basis that we know that children will lie about the age they give in the age verification process. We have to legislate on the basis of what we believe to be the correct course of action. If we are talking about contract law, a digital age of consent of 16 years would err on the better side in the expression of clear judgment in ensuring parents have the right to parent.

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