Protection of minors
Protection of minors online - Article 28 of the DSA
The Digital Services Act (DSA) imposes specific obligations on online platforms that are accessible to minors. A service is considered accessible to minors if it is directed at minors, if it is predominantly used by minors, or if the provider of the service is otherwise aware that some recipients of the service are minors.Online platforms accessible to minors are required to implement appropriate and proportionate measures to ensure a high level of privacy, safety, and protection of minors in the use of their services. Article 28 of the DSA specifically provides for a prohibition on advertising based on profiling where the provider of an online platform has sufficient certainty that the user is a minor. Compliance with the obligations set out in Article 28 of the DSA does not require providers to process additional personal data for the purpose of assessing whether a recipient (user of the service) is a minor.
In the Republic of Croatia, the authority responsible for the enforcement of Article 27 of the DSA, which concerns transparency of recommender systems, and Article 28 of the DSA, which concerns the protection of minors online, is the Croatian Personal Data Protection Agency (AZOP).
In order to assist providers of online platforms in the implementation of Article 28 of the DSA, the European Commission has published Guidelines on measures to ensure a high level of privacy, safety, and protection of minors online. The Guidelines provide practical recommendations for online platforms, including measures related to default privacy settings, recommender systems, advertising, user-to-user communication, reporting tools, parental control tools, and age verification.
The Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries (HAKOM), acting in its capacity as the Digital Services Coordinator in the Republic of Croatia, has developed an informational guidlines for providers of online platforms:
Guidelines for providers of online platforms: obligations, risks and recommended measures - Protection of minors in accordance with the Digital Services Act
The document contains an overview of the obligations, risks and recommended measures for online platforms accessible to minors, as well as practical examples of the implementation of measures to protect the privacy, safety and well-being of children and young persons in the digital environment.
Documents: Useful links: