UK ICO and Ofcom strengthen cooperation on age assurance

UK’s communications and data privacy watchdogs are strengthening collaboration on regulating child online safety, including age assurance and other technology.

In a joint statement, Ofcom and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said that the two sides plan to monitor issues of common interest within internet security and data protection.

Aside from age assurance, these so-called collaboration topics include recommender systems that use algorithms to curate content, default and geolocation settings for child users as well as “proactive technology,” which includes content identification, user profiling and behavior identification technology. Other topics of collaboration include ensuring online services uphold their terms of service and fulfill duties imposed on online services by the Online Safety Act.

The ICO has been collaborating with Ofcom and other regulators to develop “an aligned approach on age assurance” for some time. The two agencies say they plan to enhance the effectiveness of their cooperation by identifying companies or services subject to regulation. This will include sharing information on companies and services with each other.

In April, the ICO released a new strategy for its Children’s code, introduced in September 2021 to ensure online services handle children’s data responsibly.

ICO signs deal with international privacy consortium

The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has also signed an agreement with the Global Cooperation Arrangement for Privacy Enforcement (Global CAPE) to cooperate in cross-border data protection and privacy.

The multilateral arrangement allows privacy authorities to cooperate on investigations and share information on privacy and data security-related law enforcement issues without having to negotiate a separate memorandum of understanding with each participant.

“Personal information of UK people often moves between countries, so it’s vital that we work with our key international partners to design solutions that safeguard people’s privacy wherever they are based,” UK Information Commissioner John Edwards says in a statement.

Global CAPE originated as a supplement to the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation Cross-border Privacy Rules (APEC CBPR). The framework was designed to enable APEC’s Asia-Pacific member countries to work together but over time, it has expanded into a global partnership. Its members include Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and the United States.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also signed an agreement with the organization.

Article Topics

age verification  |  data privacy  |  Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)  |  Ofcom  |  Online Safety Act  |  UK