After big tech companies, telecom operators — Jio, Airtel, and Vodafone Idea — have also flagged issues regarding seeking verifiable parental consent for processing all data activities by children as per the provisions of Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act.
The challenges telcos will face is in identifying whether the end consumer on the network is a minor, and also in creating a framework based on which they will need to seek verifiable consent from the parents, officials said.
In a closed door meeting with officials from the ministry of electronics and information technology (Meity) and department of telecommunications (DoT), telcos also sought clarity on the timing of DPDP rules and urged the government to provide adequate time for transition, once they are notified.
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.
As per the DPDP Act, data fiduciaries need to mandatorily seek verifiable parent consent before processing data of children below 18 years of age. Lately, big tech companies have also sought additional time from the government to comply with such provision as it would require architectural changes.
In the meeting, executives from the telecom companies also said they are yet to have systems to seek consent from the users and are facing challenges in building a model with regard to that.
“The rules will give us more clarity with regard to upgrading systems and seeking consent. We do not want to reiterate or redo something in a different manner, after rules are notified,” an executive at a telecom company said.
