Only one in ten parents and guardians read the terms of consent of digital games and applications aimed at children, according to research carried out by the School of Business Administration of São Paulo, Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV EAESP) and the Federal Technological University do Paraná (UTFPR). The fine print that, if printed, would easily fill pages and pages, appears on the screen right before games and apps start working. To access this content, you must agree and most people check this option.
The survey results were published today (31) in the article Surveillance capitalism, the power of digitization and children: an analysis of the discourse of parents and guardians in the magazine EBAPE.BR notebooks and published by Bori Agency. The researchers applied a questionnaire online, with 24 closed-ended questions, to 565 parents and guardians in the months of September and October 2020, during the pandemic. Of these, 107 also completed an optional discursive question, sharing testimonies on the subject in writing.
More than 75% of those responsible for children under 12 reported increased use of digital games and apps and viewing of children’s channels during the pandemic. However, 90% do not read the consent terms of media and devices used by them.
The terms of consent include, for example, the data that is captured through the application and what can be done with this data, which can even be sold or passed on to other companies. Games and applications can, for example, use the technology they make available to understand patterns of behavior and suggest content to children, among others.
“Today We don’t have any knowledge, either from specialists or from the State, no one has any knowledge of how these algorithm systems treat the data, nor the crossings made, nor the tests with users”, says FGV EAESP researcher Fernando Vianna. According to him, several consent terms of analyzed platforms say that they can do tests during use. “If this is harmful for adults, imagine for the child”, he emphasizes.
An example given by the researcher is that of video platforms and streaming who have special sessions for children. After the end of one content, they offer another. “This content is not the best according to pedagogical training efforts, it is content that the platform decides. And platforms are organizations, companies that pursue their accumulation interests. They are doing this through our children. I think an appropriate word for it is: cruel”, says Vianna.
The study shows that more than half, equivalent to 56%, of the children in the sample have their own cell phone, and some parents and guardians report controlling the time of use of devices by children as a main measure to restrict exposure to digital content. But this individual effort does not prevent children’s data from being made available to platforms.
According to the General Law for the Protection of Personal Data (LGPD), approved in Brazil in 2018, the processing of children’s personal data must be carried out with specific and highlighted consent, given by at least one parent or legal guardian. The law also establishes that information on the processing of data must be provided in a simple, clear and accessible manner, in order to provide the necessary information to the parents or legal guardian, adequate to the understanding of the child.
The risks may even be known, but the routine does not always allow a detailed reading of all the terms. One of the testimonies sent by one of the study participants shows this: “I can no longer see light at the end of the tunnel for this pandemic. I advise my children not to send personal data. However, it is very difficult to control the use of cell phones and computers during the pandemic, as children have classes online and they even play games during class, because they find them tedious. In addition, there is nothing to distract them, as they cannot do anything, neither leave the house nor go to the market”.
Another person I heard has similar problems: “I was thinking about this today: and sometimes I feel like a monster for allowing such interaction. My daughter adopts behaviors from the characters on her TV shows, and that is highly harmful. However, I live in a tiny apartment and I can no longer see light at the end of the tunnel for this pandemic. I end up giving in to distract the child, but I am aware of the harm that this practice has on her education,” she says.
According to Vianna, reading the terms will not make these digital resources less use, but it can create a critical awareness of the subject. “It can make us develop issues and policies aimed at this, it cannot continue like this. If we read the terms, we can start discussions”, he defends.
