The datafied child: The dataveillance of children and implications for their rights

Abstract

Children are becoming the objects of a multitude of monitoring devices that generate detailed data about them, and critical data researchers and privacy advocates are only just beginning to direct attention to these practices. In this article we provide an overview and critique of these varied forms of datafication and dataveillance of children, from in utero through to the school years. Our approach is informed by recent calls for research on children's rights in the digital age that examines the conditions that give rise to children's needs and guide provision of resources necessary for development to their full potential; the array of specific harms they may encounter; and the significance of and particular opportunities to participate in matters that affect their wellbeing and enable them to play an active part in society. There remains little evidence that specific instruments to safeguard children's rights in relation to dataveillance have been developed or implemented, and further attention needs to be paid to these issues.

‘It Just Gives Me a Bit of Peace of Mind’: Australian Women’s Use of Digital Media for Pregnancy and Early Motherhood

“…The more that women can be encouraged to use apps and other digital media and to contribute details of themselves and their children as part of using these media, the more potentially valuable data they generate. These technologies and practices have significant implications for the creation of digitised data assemblages about children from the earliest forms of life in ways that may be shared in the public domain, used to make decisions about children's health, development, wellbeing and learning achievements or commodified by third parties for their financial gain [20,53].…”

“…Nor were women thinking about the future privacy and ethical implications for their children of creating digital profiles about them: in some cases, before they were even born. The important questions of parents' responsibilities and rights to share information about their children online in relation to children's digital rights and the potential harms that may follow them into adulthood [53][54][55][56] had yet to be fully recognised and considered among the women in the focus groups.…”

Sharenting… should children’s lives be disclosed on social media?

“…[6][7][8] However, to date, no studies have been made on the details of the personal information available online. 9 It should be included as a topic to discuss during office visits, and parents/ caregivers should be warned about the potential conflicts that may arise between the parents' freedom to share information and their children's right to privacy.…”

Sharenting… ¿la vida de los niños debe ser compartida en las redes sociales?

“…[6][7][8] Sin embargo, hasta ahora, no se ha trabajado en los detalles de su información personal que se encuentran disponibles en la Web, 9 por lo que se debe incorporar como tema por tratar en la consulta y presentarles a los padres/cuidadores el potencial conflicto que existe entre la libertad de los padres de publicar y el derecho del niño a su privacidad.…”