BCS responds to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) Code of Practice to protect children's privacy online

23 Jan 2020 01:22 PM

The Age Appropriate Design Code (published 22 January) outlines 15 standards that online services should meet.

Dr Bill Michell OBE, Director of Policy at BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT said:

“Embedding ethical IT practice across services like social media, which are so closely linked to young people’s wellbeing, is an excellent step forward.

“At the heart of this announcement is ethics and leaders working in digital industries making sure that at the point of creation, new social media channels, streaming services and others are ‘ethical by design’. Let’s not forget that we need individual practitioners to play their part, by demonstrating their own commitment to ethical standards by signing up to a code of conduct with a professional body.

“We also need to ensure there are effective forums whereby organisations can share good practice and it is also important to go beyond minimum standards and speak to young people about what they feel is ethical so future digital media that are yet to come, will reflect this.

“We will be consulting with our members to see how we can best help the computing profession demonstrate their commitment to this Code.”