Designing a Child-Friendly Digital Environment: Ethical and Legal Considerations

Date: Friday, 28th February 2025
Time: 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM
Hosts: Joe Kirk, Catarina Santos, Philip Brining
Location: Microsoft Teams

As digital platforms become an integral part of children’s lives, ensuring their privacy, security, and well-being online has never been more important. How can organisations create child-friendly digital environments that prioritise safety without compromising innovation?

Join us for Episode 207 of the Data Protection Made Easy Podcast, where our expert hosts will delve into the ethical and legal responsibilities of handling children’s personal data, exploring the latest legislation, best practices, and real-world challenges in the digital space.

What Will We Cover?

In this episode, we will discuss the growing regulatory focus on protecting minors online and what organisations need to consider when designing digital services aimed at young users. Topics will include:

• New and upcoming legislation – Examining recent laws designed to protect children’s data, including the UK’s Age-Appropriate Design Code (Children’s Code) and how organisations should comply.
• Ethical design principles – How can businesses create digital experiences that are not only compliant but also ethical, ensuring children’s best interests come first?
• Dark patterns and deceptive design – Understanding the risks of manipulative UX/UI design in platforms targeting minors and how to build transparent, responsible user experiences.
• Balancing engagement with privacy – How can organisations provide a safe but engaging online experience for children while maintaining data minimisation and privacy by design?
• Challenges in enforcement – A discussion on how regulators are tackling non-compliance and the lessons learned from recent enforcement actions against platforms that failed to meet child protection standards.

Who Should Attend?

This session is essential for:

• Organisations handling children’s data, including edtech platforms, social media companies, gaming services, and online retailers.
• Compliance officers, data protection professionals, and legal teams looking to stay ahead of child data protection requirements.
• Designers, developers, and product teams interested in creating ethical and compliant user experiences for younger audiences.
• Parents and educators who want to understand the measures being taken to protect children online.

Why Join Live?

Attending the session live gives you the opportunity to ask questions, share insights, and discuss real-world scenarios with our expert hosts and like-minded professionals. Engage in meaningful conversations about balancing business needs with children’s rights and get practical takeaways you can implement in your own organisation.

If you are unable to attend live, you can catch up on all our episodes via Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, or our Resource Centre on the Data Protection People website.

Register Now

Secure your spot for this insightful and essential discussion and sign up today.

Listen Back to Past Episodes: Want to catch up before the next session? Listen to our previous episodes now: Data Protection Made Easy Podcast