European regulators will not raise the age of consent for those wanting to access social networks to 16, it has been announced.
The EU said it will be up to each of the member states to set the age they think is appropriate for children to access services and it will be their responsibility to ensure the social networks comply. In Spain, for example, this will remain at 14, while in most other European countries, it will remain as 13.
Although there will be a restriction for under-13s to access the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other websites considered to be 'social networks', those between 13 and 16 will not necessarily need the permission of their parents.
Many MEPs welcomed the EU's move, saying it is right for the legal body to leave it up to the country to decide. "Concerns have been listened to and the UK's age of consent will not be forced to change," Conservative MEP Timothy Kirkhope said.
The changes were proposed as a last-minute amendment to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) directive, which aims to give everyone equal data protection rights wherever their data is stored across the 28-nation bloc and is due to come into force during 2016.
The amendment had stated that companies handle the personal information of those under 16 with the consent of "the holder of parental responsibility over the child".
This proposal raised strenuous objections from tech companies, who added their voices to criticisms of the legislation.
The proposed ammendment came under particular fire from child protection groups, like the UK's Family Online Safety Institute, which penned an open letter to Brussels stating: "Moving the requirement for parental consent from age 13 to age 16 would deprive young people of educational and social opportunities in a number of ways, yet would provide no more (and likely even less) protection".
It also suggested that the changes will simply force children to lie about their ages, rather than going to their parents for permission.
This, the letter said, "would make it far more difficult for online services to offer children age-appropriate guidance and tools to ensure a safe and privacy-protective experience online".
Ultimately, however, the ammendment was taken out of the final draft of the GDPR when it was agreed upon late on Tuesday evening.
"The digital future of Europe can only be built on trust," said Andrus Ansip, vice-president for the Digital Single Market, when announcing the draft text had been agreed upon. "With solid common standards for data protection, people can be sure they are in control of their personal information. And they can enjoy all the services and opportunities of a Digital Single Market. We should not see privacy and data protection as holding back economic activities."
This Single Digital Market will allow companies to be more innovative when developing digital services, Ansip continued.
"Our next step is now to remove unjustified barriers which limit cross-border data flow: local practice and sometimes national law, limiting storage and processing of certain data outside national territory. So let us move ahead and build an open and thriving data economy in the EU based on the highest data protection standards and without unjustified barriers."
