{"id":2911,"date":"2026-02-27T21:15:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T15:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/?p=2911"},"modified":"2026-02-27T21:16:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T15:46:13","slug":"as-poland-targets-big-tech-over-kids-will-india-awaken-its-sleeping-giant-data-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/as-poland-targets-big-tech-over-kids-will-india-awaken-its-sleeping-giant-data-law\/2911\/","title":{"rendered":"As Poland targets big tech over kids, will India awaken its \u2018sleeping giant\u2019 data law?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Poland is set to tighten the digital net around social media giants. Education Minister Barbara Nowacka<\/a> told news portals on Friday that the government plans to legislate a social media ban for children under 15, shifting the legal burden of age verification squarely onto the platforms. Under a draft outline presented by the ruling Civic Coalition, companies that fail to \u201cgatekeep\u201d effectively face significant financial penalties, with a target enforcement date of early 2027.<\/p>\n

Poland\u2019s new announcement enjoins it among the ranks of Australia, France, Denmark, and Greece in establishing the \u201cdigital age of majority. While France, Denmark, and Greece declare the the age of majority to be 15, Australia has set it at 16.\u00a0 UK is currently in consultation, looking to enact the restrictions.<\/p>\n

The move marks a definitive shift in the global legal philosophy regarding the internet:<\/span> moving away from \u201cNotice and Consent\u201d system, where the burden of safety lies with parents, toward a \u201cStrict Liability\u201d model,<\/span> where the burden of exclusion has been imputed on the tech giants. This is because the <\/span>Legislators, world-over, are increasingly prioritizing the collective safety of the demographic that makes up the bulk of future users, children, over the individual liberties of tech companies to innovate without guardrails.<\/p>\n

India, is not behind the race. The Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act provides for one of the most stringent child-protection frameworks in the world, the section 9. \u00a0Under this provision, social media companies are classified as \u201cData Fiduciaries\u201d with extraordinary obligations toward minors (defined in India as anyone under 18). The first requirement is, \u201cVerifiable Parental Consent\u201d which mandates the\u00a0 platforms to obtain \u201cverifiable\u201d consent before processing any data of a minor. Second, \u201cNo Tracking or Profiling\u201d\u00a0 enshrined in Section 9(3) strictly prohibits platforms from engaging in behavioral monitoring, targeted advertising, or any processing that tracks a child\u2019s online movement. and last, the \u201cDetrimental Effect\u201d Test forbids any data processing that may cause a \u201cdetrimental effect\u201d on the well-being of a child; this is a very broad legal standard that gives the government significant oversight power.<\/p>\n

This digital mammoth, however, remains unenforced. Despite the DPDP Act<\/a> being passed, Section 9 has yet to be fully notified by the Indian government. The delay highlights the massive technical and legal hurdle facing India, Age Verification.<\/p>\n

To enforce Section 9, platforms would need to verify the age of every single user in India. This creates a \u201cPrivacy Paradox.\u201d To protect a child\u2019s privacy, a platform might demand a government ID (like Aadhaar) or facial recognition from all<\/em> users, potentially creating a mass surveillance database that contradicts the very spirit of data protection.<\/p>\n

Until the Indian government notifies the specific \u201cRules\u201d governing how parental consent is verified without compromising adult privacy, Section 9 remains a \u201csleeping giant\u201d, a law with immense power that has yet to be triggered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Poland is set to tighten the digital net around social media giants. Education Minister Barbara Nowacka told news portals on\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":469,"featured_media":2917,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6,53],"tags":[1394,1389],"class_list":["post-2911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-european-union","category-india","category-policy","tag-barbara-nowacka","tag-dpdp-act"],"reading_time":"3 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/469"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2911"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2911\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2930,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2911\/revisions\/2930"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}