Denmark urges raising age of data collection from children, end to ‘opaque algorithms’

By Ebad Ahmed

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AA) - Denmark on Monday unveiled the government plan to raise the age limit for personal data collection of children by technology giants and urged an end to “their opaque algorithms.”

“The tech giants must take greater responsibility,” Business Minister Morten Bodskov told a news conference in Copenhagen. “We must put an end to their opaque algorithms which use crazy methods to keep children and adults in front of the screen and harvest unimaginable amounts of personal information.”

The Danish government plans to raise the age limit to 15 and 16 years for children to give their consent to share their data with tech companies like Google, Snapchat, and Meta. The current age limit stands at 13. If the plan becomes applicable, the tech giants will require parental consent to accumulate children’s data.

The Danish announcement comes against the backdrop of Germany setting up the age limit of 16 years for data accumulation, while reportedly Hungary, Lithuania, and the Netherlands are currently working on data protection laws.

The Danish government also intends to impose age-verification measures to minimize viewing of pornographic content and war videos to underage users, the Business Ministry said.