Autonomy and control of minors online. The new borders of parental responsibility

Abstract

Parental responsibility is a complex legal situation that summarizes the duties and rights of parents, among which emerges education. Minors are particularly exposed on the Web, a virtual place where they can develop their own personality but also full of risks related to a not always conscious and safe navigation. At 14, the consent to the processing of personal data in information society services (and therefore also social networks) is given directly by the child and parental control systems, if activated, are abruptly interrupted and cannot be maintained by the parents without the will of the child. This reduces the ability of parents – who must first respect the privacy of their children, avoiding overexposing them in the web – to control and guide, and affects the very exercise of parental responsibility.