Asked by: Baroness Benjamin (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether their forthcoming measures on persuasive design will address features such as communication streaks and network expansion prompts that may encourage children to begin or continue contact with unknown or abusive users.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
On 15 June, the government published a progress statement in response to the ‘Growing up in the Online World’ consultation.
This set out a package of new measures including banning social media platforms from offering their services to under 16s and restricting harmful functionalities, including stranger communication, across a wider range of services for under 16s. Restrictions on harmful functionalities will also be on by default for 16 and 17 year olds.
The government has committed to provide a further update, including on restrictions for persuasive design features, in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Baroness Benjamin (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology on 15 June (HC Deb 592), whether they plan to take steps to prevent AI chatbots providing inadequate safeguarding advice and misleading information to child users.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
We have taken a power in the Crime and Policing Act to close loopholes in the Online Safety Act regarding AI chatbots. This means unregulated chatbots will have to comply with duties under the Online Safety Act to protect their users from illegal content once the relevant legislation is passed.
Alongside this we are considering the evidence from the ‘Growing up in the online world’ consultation. Some responses felt that chatbots could support children’s wellbeing. However, we also heard concerns about how these services can provide children with harmful, misleading, or inaccurate advice.
Following the publication of the progress statement in June, we plan to provide a further update on the consultation in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Baroness Benjamin (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following their decision to mandate on-device nudity safeguards, what consideration they have given to requiring the use of the same technology to deploy real-time age estimation so that when an adult’s phone is picked up by a child it will automatically disable applications that are harmful to children.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The government recognises the benefits of device-level protections and we are encouraged by industry developments which make smartphones safer for children.
On 8 June, we committed to working with operating system providers over the next three months so that Britain is the first country in the world to make it impossible for children to take, share and view naked pictures on devices.
Where evidence demonstrates that further action is necessary to protect children and the wider public, we will not hesitate to act.
Asked by: Baroness Benjamin (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Viscount Camrose on 11 March (HL2719), whether, as a result of engagement between Aylo and XHamster, the Information Commissioner's Office was satisfied that these two websites are operating in full accordance with data protection law, including the Age Appropriate Design Code, and if not, what further regulatory action they are taking to achieve compliance.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The ICO provided advice and guidance to Aylo and XHamster on compliance with data protection legislation and on their Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs). The ICO would consider further interactions with these organisations if subsequent compliance concerns arise.
Should the ICO receive a complaint that these or any other pornography website organisations have breached their obligations, the ICO would consider the complaint and take action where necessary.
Asked by: Baroness Benjamin (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many pornographic websites have been the subject of (1) regulatory inquiries, or (2) formal investigations by the Information Commissioner’s Office, regarding their use of children’s personal data, on the basis that they are likely to be accessed by minors, since the Age Appropriate Design Code came into force in September 2020.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
Following publication of its “Likely to be accessed by children" guidance, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has worked with Ofcom and engaged with two pornographic website companies (Aylo and XHamster).
During the development of its guidance on the Age Appropriate Design Code, the ICO also worked with the content subscription service provider OnlyFans on how the code would impact their processing activities.
The ICO proactively reviewed the Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) for all three organisations, providing feedback where appropriate, and suggesting improvements in two cases. These were not formal investigations.