On 11 June 2020, the Government laid the Age Appropriate Design Code before Parliament. The Department of Digital, Culture, Media & Sport has prepared an explanatory memorandum on the Code. The code sets out 15 standards that relevant online services should meet to protect children’s privacy online.
The Code now sits for 40 days to give Parliament an opportunity to consider its contents. If it is approved in its current form, it will then come into force 21 calendar days later. The Information Commissioner’s Office has confirmed there will then be a transitional period of 12 months before the Code comes into effect. It is expected that the Code will have completed its parliamentary approval by early August 2020 and will therefore come into force in early August 2021.
The explanatory memorandum can be read in full here.
The ICO’s statement in response to the Government laying the Age Appropriate Design Code can be read here.