OECD GUIDELINES FOR DIGITAL SERVICE PROVIDERS 1

The following Guidelines were drafted in the context of the revision of the OECD Recommendation ofthe Council on Children in the Digital Environment [OECD/LEGAL/0389] (hereafter, the“Recommendation”). They seek to complement the Recommendation and should be read in conjunctionwith it.
The Guidelines aim to support Digital Service Providers, when they take actions that may directly or
indirectly affect children in the digital environment, in determining how best to protect and respect therights, safety, and interests of children, recognising that girls, children belonging to racial, ethnic andreligious minorities, children with disabilities, and others belonging to disadvantaged groups may
require additional support and protection.
While Digital Service Providers are called upon to respect the Guidelines as a whole, the specificmeasures individual Digital Service Providers take may vary significantly, taking into account factors
such as the national legal and regulatory context in which they operate, as well as the differences intheir roles and the risk profiles associated with the services and products they provide, to which themeasures they take should be proportionate.
1.

Child Safety by Design

In designing and delivering services that are for children or where it is reasonably foreseeable
that they will be accessed or used by children, Digital Service Providers should take a precautionary
approach and to this end:a)

Pay due regard to providing a safe and beneficial digital environment for children through thedesign, development, deployment, and operation of such products and services, including
through taking a safety-by-design approach to address risks;b)Regularly take steps necessary to prevent children from accessing services and content thatshould not be accessible to them, and that could be detrimental to their health and well-beingor undermine any of their rights, and continue to review the efficacy of those measures andimprove them where necessary;c)

Regularly review and update practices to take into account changes to technology, changes
in use, and consequent changes in risks for children; andd)

Where laws or policies require that age-based restrictions be in place to prevent children
below certain ages accessing a service, put in place restrictions that are proportionate to risk,
privacy-preserving and respected.

2.

Information Provision and Transparency

In providing information to children and their parents, guardians, or carers regarding services
for children, or where it is reasonably foreseeable that they will be accessed or used by children, Digital
Service Providers should provide information that is concise, intelligible, easily accessible, andformulated in clear, plain, and age-appropriate language. This includes but is not limited to information
regarding privacy settings, data retention, terms of service, policies, and community standards.

1This document has been approved and declassified by the Committee on Digital Economy Policyon 13 April 2021.

3.

Privacy, Data Protection, and Commercial Use

If providing digital services that are for children, or where it is reasonably foreseeable children
will access or use them, and that collect, process, share, and use personal data, Digital Service
Providers should:

4.

a)Provide children, and their parents, guardians, and carers, with information on the way that
their personal data is collected, disclosed, made available, or otherwise used in language thatis concise, intelligible, easily accessible, and set out in a clear and age-appropriate manner;b)Limit the collection of personal data and its subsequent use or disclosure to third parties tothe fulfilment of the provision of the service in the child’s best interests;c)

Not use children’s data in ways evidence indicates is detrimental to their wellbeing; andd)

Unless there is a compelling reason to do so and there are appropriate measures in place toprotect children from harmful effects, not allow the profiling of children or automated decisionmaking, including on e-learning platforms.
Governance and Accountability

Digital Service Providers should have policies and procedures in place to promote the bestinterests of all children accessing their services. Digital Service Providers should be able to demonstratecompliance with any domestic policies, regulations, or laws in place to safeguard the rights of children
in the digital environment.