Does the Children's Code apply to our service?
Check whether the service is an : a service normally provided for remuneration, at a distance, by electronic means, at the individual request of a recipient. Most for-profit online services meet that definition. Then assess whether the service is under 18 in the UK, not merely whether the product is marketed to them.
Use evidence about the nature and presentation of the service, appeal to children, actual audience, comparable services, marketing, user research, and the effectiveness of access restrictions. If the service is unsuitable for children and reliable controls prevent their access, document that conclusion. If evidence later shows a substantive child audience, revisit the assessment and either conform to the code or improve the restriction.
The statutory scope excludes a general broadcast that is not provided at an individual's request and a preventive or counselling service, such as an online health screening or counselling service, offered specifically to children. An on-demand element of a broader broadcast and a general health, fitness, or well-being service can still be covered. The code came into force on 2 September 2020, and its 12-month transition ended on 2 September 2021, so an in-scope service should conform now.
- Map UK child users, age ranges, personal data, profiling, sharing, geolocation, default settings, nudges, and parental features.
- Document the evidence for likely access and review it after product, audience, marketing, or access-control changes.
- Apply the code's territorial rules carefully. It covers processing in the context of a UK establishment and can cover a provider outside the UK that offers services to, or monitors, people in the UK. Since the end of the EU exit implementation period, this includes a provider with no UK establishment but an establishment elsewhere in the EEA.
- Keep the Article 8 consent rule distinct from the code's under-18 design scope. For an relying on consent, a UK child can give their own consent from age 13; below 13, the holder of parental responsibility must give or authorise it. Another lawful basis may fit the processing, but the code can still apply to users up to age 18.
Explains the information-society-service and likely-to-be-accessed scope tests, under-18 coverage, examples, and territorial reach.
Detailed statutory-code guidance on relevant services and the evidence used to assess likely child access.
Confirms that the transition phase ended on 2 September 2021 and explains the ICO's clarified position on adult-only services.
Sets age 13 as the UK threshold for a child's own Article 8 consent to information-society services.