Parental Consent

Under the DPDP Act, parental consent refers to the consent provided by a parent or lawful guardian before a Data Fiduciary processes the personal data of a child.

The DPDP Act defines a child as an individual who has not completed eighteen years of age. Before processing a child’s personal data, a Data Fiduciary must obtain verifiable consent from the parent or lawful guardian. This requirement ensures that children’s personal data receives additional protection and that processing activities involving children are authorized appropriately.

Organizations processing children’s personal data need mechanisms to verify parental consent, maintain consent records, and ensure that child-related processing activities follow applicable obligations under the DPDP Act. Parental consent becomes especially important for platforms and services where age verification and child user management are part of the user journey.

In practice, gaps emerge when:

• Organizations cannot verify whether consent is provided by a parent or guardian.
• Age verification mechanisms are ineffective.
• Consent records do not capture proof of authorization.
• Child-related processing activities are not identified.
• Parental consent withdrawal processes are unclear.

Organizations address these challenges by implementing age verification mechanisms, maintaining consent records, creating child-specific privacy workflows, and ensuring appropriate controls for processing children’s personal data. Within Privy, capabilities such as consent management, consent tracking, workflow automation, and compliance reporting help organizations manage Data Principal consent processes.