The Children’s Code is the common name for the Age Appropriate Design Code (AADC), which is described as a data protection code of practice for online services, such as apps, online games, and web and social media sites, likely to be accessed by children. While it’s not specific to email marketing, if your company has an online presence that children may well access, it’s important that you understand the Code. The year-long transition period ended 2 September.
The AADC is, in effect, a way to help businesses interpret the GDPR requirements as a design standard. If you feel this may apply to your business, then the ICO, as well as providing support, has a considerable amount of information for small businesses on its site. There is the threat of enforcement action by the ICO. This includes compulsory audits, orders to stop processing data, and fines of up to 4% of global turnover.
You might feel that as you provide no specific services for children, the AADC does not apply to you. You might be wrong. As the ICO states, its aim is not to protect children from the digital world directly, 
but to protect them within it by ensuring online services are better designed for children’s needs.
We have come to expect clear and simple guidelines from the ICO and, with regards the AADC, it fulfils expectations. Go to: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/childrens-code-hub/ where you will find a couple of dozen click-throughs explaining various aspects of the Code, starting with, as you’d expect, ‘Introduction to the Children’s Code’ which is described as, ‘What you need to know’. This introduction runs to 1500 words and contains a dozen click-throughs.
From the point of view of most email marketing companies, the critical paragraph is, ‘Who does the code apply to?’. Given most of the reduced-information articles on the Internet, you might consider there is little to interest us but, unfortunately, what is included in the code is online marketplaces. That’s probably most of us. Also in the list is ‘news or educational websites’. This could well include blogs.
There are a number of words and phrases used which are open to interpretation. For instance, what does ‘online tools’ mean? A paragraph explains whether, in the opinion of the ICO, pointing users to external guidance explaining, for instance, data protection rights could be included. You can see that email marketing might well be a factor in a number of aspects of the AADC.
The ICO guidance includes information on the 15 standards of the Children’s Code. We won’t go through each of them here, but if children are likely to access your facilities, then a working understanding of the standards is an essential. The ICO states you need to keep up to date with advice and recommendations on children’s welfare in the digital context. I’d take that on-board.
And finally, the code applies not only to UK companies but also non-UK companies which process the personal data of UK children.
We will cover the expected interpretations and clarifications in the weeks and months ahead.
