Telecom operators, including Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea Limited have raised concerns regarding seeking verifiable parental consent for processing all data activities by children as per the provisions of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act.
One of the concerns pertaining to verifiable parent consent is the use of SIM cards by minors, even if the connection is in the name of parents or guardians. The challenges telcos will face is in identifying whether the end consumer on the network is a minor, as well as in creating a framework based on which they will need to seek verifiable consent from the parents.
As per the DPDP Act, data fiduciaries need to mandatorily seek verifiable parent consent before processing data of children below 18 years of age. Recently, big tech companies have also sought additional time from the government to comply with such provision as it would require architectural changes.
