Arooj Ahmed
There have always been legal age restrictions for children but these restrictions often expose children to inappropriate and harmful content. Some age restrictions also limit children from using goods and services that are helpful for them. The researchers of the study said that where age assurances are protecting children, they are also subjecting them to discrimination, lack of protection, no freedom of speech and exposing their privacy.
An age assurance should be designed in such a way that it doesn't restrict children from age appropriate activities that are good for their learning and development. For the study, the researchers examined afe assurances in Europe for online sale of alcohol and tobacco, online gambling and online content. They found that there are no clear guidelines for appropriate age assurances. Most of these guidelines just exclude children, but do not provide the exact ages for these restrictions.
One of the researchers of the study, Professor van der Hof, said that many of the digital services companies do not impose appropriate and reliable age assurances but expect children and parents to keep a check of what they consume online. The study emphasizes how important it is to hear children and their rights in designing these age assurance models. Right now, age assurances are exploiting the rights of children so they shouldn't be fully trusted.
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