Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she has made an assessment of the effectiveness of the rules governing data protection that require sites and services using age verification to delete submitted information once that data has been used.

The Government has not undertaken a specific assessment of the effectiveness of rules requiring the deletion of data submitted for age verification once it has been used.

The UK’s data protection framework requires personal data to be minimised and not retained for longer than necessary, including where data is collected for age verification purposes. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is independent of Government and is responsible for monitoring and enforcing the UK’s data protection laws.

In January 2024, the ICO published an updated Commissioner’s Opinion on age assurance for the Children’s Code (https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/media-centre/news-and-blogs/2024/01/ico-publishes-updated-commissioner-s-opinion-on-age-assurance-for-the-children-s-code/).