The protection of minors within the framework of personal data protection. Age verification systems between personalism and balancing of rights

Abstract

The essay analyzes the relationship between age verification systems and the framework of personal data protection. Regulation (EU) 2016/679 serves as both the foundation for the protection of minors in digital society and the legitimacy principle governing the use of their personal data for age verification purposes. To this end, the analysis will draw on issues arising from the application of the purpose limitation principle, such as the implicit standard of proportionality underlying age verification, and related challenges. Only a regulatory harmonization effort to mandate the age verification for all information society services could restore the relational nature that characterizes the protection of minors in the digital society. The reliability as much as the risks of the mechanism will thus depend upon the balancing of data circulation and personal data protection within the multilevel system of fundamental right protection. These two pillars constitute the core normative framework protecting the individual in digital societies.