March 2, 2023
1 min read

UK govt to look into Youtube gathering child data  

Britain’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said it would consider the complaint carefully…reports Asian Lite News

Britain’s information regulator said on Wednesday it would look into an official complaint accusing Alphabet Inc’s YouTube of illegally collecting data from millions of children.

The complaint lodged by father-of-three Duncan McCann, who is leading the campaign and supported by his employer the advocacy group 5Rights, said the video-streaming platform had broken the newly implemented law by gathering “the location, viewing habits and preferences” of up to 5 million children.

Countries have been wrestling to strike the right balance with legislation that protects social media users, particularly children, from harmful content without damaging free speech.

McCann said in a statement that YouTube should change the design of its platform and delete data it had been gathering.

“It is a massive, unlicensed, social experiment on our children with uncertain consequences,” McCann said.

A spokesperson for YouTube said it had taken steps to bolster child privacy with more protective default settings, and made investments to protect children and families by launching a dedicated kids app and introducing new data practices.

“We remain committed to continuing our engagement with the ICO on this priority work, and with other key stakeholders including children, parents and child protection experts,” the YouTube spokesperson said in a statement.

Britain’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said it would consider the complaint carefully.

“The Children’s code makes clear that children are not like adults online, and their data needs meaningful protections,” the ICO’s Deputy Commissioner, Regulatory Supervision, Stephen Bonner said in a statement.

Britain’s Children’s code requires providers to meet 15 design and privacy standards to protect children, including limiting collection of their location and other personal data.

In 2019, YouTube was fined $170 million by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to settle allegations that it broke federal law by collecting personal information about children.

ALSO READ-Indian-American Neal Mohan is new YouTube CEO

Previous Story

Prince Harry, Meghan “evicted” from their Windsor home

Next Story

UK, Singapore ink New Green Economy Framework

Latest from -Top News

Visa Interview Pause Nearing End, Says US

India is the source country for the largest group of international students in the US and Bruce’s comments will be closely followed there….reports Asian Lite News The United States said the pause

White House: Israel OKs Gaza Truce

Hamas said Thursday that its leadership had received a new Gaza ceasefire proposal from Witkoff through the mediators and was studying it…reports Asian Lite News The White House said that Israel has

No Talks Till Terror Ends: India to Pakistan

The MEA’s strong response came at a time when Pakistan, pushed on the backfoot by India’s decisive Operation Sindoor, has suddenly started talking about its intent on having peace talks with India….reports

BNP ramps up poll demand

Chief Adviser Yunus had earlier promised elections in December 2025, but the timeline has since been pushed back first to February 2026 and then to June 2026, fuelling suspicion and dissatisfaction among

Saudi backs India’s strategic outreach

In a series of engagements, the Indian delegation met Saudi Arabia’s Minister of State Adel Al-Jubeir and other senior officials. A high-profile Indian all-party parliamentary delegation, led by BJP MP Baijayant Jay
Go toTop

Don't Miss

Indian-origin teacher banned from job in UK for committing fraud

Patel said one of the reasons for the move was

Rahul leaves for UK to address ‘India@75’ at Cambridge

Gandhi will be speaking on May 23, holding a conversation