Age Appropriate Digital Services for Young People: Major Reforms

Young people's digital lives are bigger than they have ever been. This means that realizing young people's rights now requires a concerted focus on the digital world as well. Terms and Conditions (from Cookies Policies to Terms of Service) are an important part of young people's digital worlds because they set the “rules of engagement” between digital products and young service users. However important, these Terms and Conditions rarely recognize young people's rights, let alone uphold them. This article outlines some of the ways Terms and Conditions fail young people, and why this is problematic from moral, legal, and commercial perspectives. This suggests there is a critical need for Terms and Conditions that uphold rights, and that a Standard around Terms and Conditions may be an effective way of addressing this problem.