Ad regulator says collection of third party data from children is sometimes acceptable

The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), which writes the rules governing UK advertising, has amended its Code of Practice to describe situations in which people aged 16 or under can be asked for information about third parties.

Its rules had previously said that young people should never be asked for information about others, but CAP has modified its Code to match recommendations made by privacy watchdog the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

That ICO guidance, which was published last year, said that marketers should "assess the level of risk associated with asking a child to provide personal data about a third party. In some cases the risk is low because the information collected is relatively innocuous, for example where a child provides another person’s email address to transmit a newsletter and where the address isn’t retained or used for any other purpose".

CAP said that it had changed the Code so that its rules matched the ICO's.

"Marketers must not knowingly collect personal information about other people from children under 16 unless that information is the minimum required to make a recommendation for a product, is not used for a significantly different purpose from that originally consented to, and the marketer can demonstrate that the collection of that information was suitable for the age group targeted," says the updated rule.

"Data about third parties collected from children must not be kept for longer than necessary," it said.

CAP said that the rule applies to all media in relation to all collection of data for marketing purposes, including in social media sites. It said that the change would take effect immediately.