On The Rule Of Informed Consent In The Protection Of Personal Information Of Minors

The informed consent in the protection of personal information of minors is a legal rule constructed with the consent of the guardian as the core,which is a specificization of the lawful principle of the Personal Information Protection Law.In order to protect the personal information rights of minors,it is necessary to clarify the difference and connection between the notification consent rule and the general notification consent rule in the protection of minors’ personal information.Through a summary analysis of all relevant enforcement cases of the U.S.Federal Trade Commission over the past 25 years and a comparison of typical cases in and out of the region,it can be found that the application of the minor’s notification of consent rule has problems such as unscientific definition of the scope of application,vitiated notification effect,and difficulties in identifying authorized subjects.To solve the problems,it is necessary to explore the principle compliance of the rule of informing consent and improve the specific rules in two aspects.The application of the rules should be guided by the principles,so it is necessary to base on the principle of the most favorable to minors,especially to protect the personal information rights of minors and respect the information autonomy of minors.In addition,the principle of openness and transparency should be used to regulate the obligation of information processors to inform.To further improve the verifiable consent of guardians and the hierarchical management of minors’ personal information by virtue of the principle of hierarchical classification.With the aid of the principle of efficiency,the options that best meet the protection of minors’ information rights are screened out.The improvement of specific rules needs to be carried out under the guidance of the aforementioned principles.First,the scope of application of the rules should be amended.Age classification should be made according to the different characteristics of minors at different ages and stages of development,and at the same time,personal information of minors should be classified according to the level of risk of infringement of rights and interests,so as to clarify the timing of guardians’ intervention and assistance.Second,the norms of notification should be improved.On the one hand,the degree of notification should be clarified by the principle of openness and transparency to ensure that the subject of information and his/her guardian have the possibility of being informed.On the other hand,public law should be applied to prohibit information processors from engaging in high-risk information processing activities that information subjects and their guardians cannot understand.Finally,the identification norms of authorized subjects should be improved.First,it is mandatory for information processors to conduct double identification,that is,to identify whether the user is a minor and then to identify whether the consent is made by the guardian.Information processing activities without double identification should be regarded as illegal.Second,based on the principle of scenario,distinguish between strong and weak verification obligations.Make the identification obligation undertaken by information processors match the riskiness of information processing activities.