India’s data privacy law, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDP), is on the brink of implementation. While the final rollout date remains unclear, recent revisions to the draft legislation offer organizations a clear roadmap for compliance. Among its most critical provisions is the heightened focus on safeguarding minors from harmful content—a mandate poised to transform industries ranging from eCommerce to social media.
Key Provisions related to this:
Section 9(1) mandates that “A Data Fiduciary shall, before processing any personal data of a child, obtain verifiable consent of the parent or lawful guardian of the child.”
Section 9(4) further emphasizes: “A Data Fiduciary shall not undertake such processing of personal data that is likely to cause any detrimental effect on the well-being of a child.”
These clauses will enforce stricter accountability across sectors like eCommerce, gaming, dating platforms, social media, and OTT services. While many platforms already claim to prioritize child safety, the DPDP’s legal teeth will demand more than superficial checks—ushering in an era of robust age verification mechanisms.
The Flaw in Current Practices
Most platforms rely on basic KYC checks or self-declaration checkboxes, which are easily bypassed using fake credentials or borrowed IDs.
This loophole not only exposes minors to harm but also leaves companies vulnerable to reputational damage, legal penalties, and loss of consumer trust.
Let’s do a deep dive into how age gating becomes relevant in different industries:
1. Gaming & Gambling
Gambling and gaming platforms are no strangers to attracting users at a large scale.
Unfortunately, a large section of this user base tends to be minors who are attracted to flashy rewards and lured in by malicious actors seeking to exploit their innocence.
Just recently, a 7-year-old child ended up losing his entire family’s savings on an Indian gaming platform.
This is not an isolated case—hundreds of traumatic incidents have been reported where young teens, trapped in debt or shame, choose to end their lives due to similar circumstances.
The southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu recently imposed strict laws banning minors under 18 from real-money gaming platforms, mandating KYC (Know Your Customer) verification. While this is a step forward, lax enforcement of age checks continues to leave loopholes for underage access.
2. Dating Platforms
Dating platforms have become a breeding ground for imposters and fraudsters aiming to scam users for financial gain or other nefarious purposes.
Nearly 51% of Indians report encountering fake profiles or AI-generated photos on dating apps or social media.
A significant portion of these fake accounts belong to minors pretending to be adults to engage in romantic interactions, often catfishing genuine users who believe they are building authentic relationships.
Beyond emotional trauma, such incidents can lead to serious legal repercussions for unsuspecting users.
The core issue lies in platforms onboarding malicious users without due diligence, which erodes trust and damages customer loyalty. For dating apps, the fallout isn’t just reputational— significant revenue losses and stalled customer acquisition often follow.
3. Social Media
The exploitation, abuse, and manipulation of minors on social media platforms remain pervasive issues.
Despite repeated commitments from tech giants to protect young users, progress has been slow. Children are increasingly able to bypass age restrictions by using shared credentials from parents or siblings.
In today’s digital era, where FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) drives even minors to join platforms without understanding the risks, unregulated access has sparked alarm. For example, "grooming" is a grave concern.
Parents, teachers, and activists have amplified their demands for stricter safeguards, citing the long-term psychological and social damages caused by premature exposure to social media.
This is why Section 9(1) of the DPDP Act mandating parental consent for minors’ onboarding—has been widely welcomed by guardians nationwide.
4. eCommerce
Imagine a teenager purchasing cigarettes with a fake ID, spiraling into addiction. Horrified parents confront the platform, demanding, “How could you sell poison to a child?”
Such scenarios are not hypothetical.
In 2022, a major Indian eCommerce platform was fined ₹10 lakh after a 15-year-old used a forged Aadhaar card to buy vaping devices.
The incident highlights the risks of relying on superficial age checks, especially for platforms selling restricted products like alcohol, tobacco, or sharp tools.
5. OTT Platforms
A child watches a horror movie meant for adults, haunted by nightmares for months. Parents demand, “Why wasn’t this stopped?”
There have been escalating concerns surrounding minors' exposure to explicit or violent content on OTT streaming services. While many platforms provide "parental control" features, these tools are often optional and can be easily circumvented by tech-savvy youngsters.
OTT platforms are under growing scrutiny for allowing minors to access explicit content despite offering parental controls—most of which are optional and easy to bypass.
With India’s IT Ministry tightening content regulations under the DPDP Act, platforms must implement stricter safeguards. Features like real-time age estimation during account creation or dynamic content gating based on risk levels are no longer optional but necessary to ensure child safety and regulatory compliance.
What does this mean for you?
Each industry faces unique challenges, but the common thread is clear: static checkboxes and weak KYC protocols are not compliant .
The DPDP Act’s emphasis on “verifiable consent” and child well-being demands nuanced tech-driven solutions to ensure minors are shielded from harm—without compromising user experience.
Bureau’s Age Estimator: AI-Powered Compliance
A simple checkbox isn’t enough. There needs to be a visual check to verify if the user attempting to access your services is actually who they claim to be. But how do we achieve this without disrupting the customer experience?
With just a single image capture, we can provide:
- Age estimation (with a ±3-year accuracy band)
- Gender identification (with 92% accuracy)
Our risk-based, frictionless experience ensures that only users flagged as high-risk for being underage undergo an additional digital identity verification process. In India, this is done using Aadhaar as the official ID.
Edge Cases:
If a user is found to be under 18, we enforce strict compliance by requiring parental consent—achieved with a simple forwarded link.
The advantage? Guardians also undergo a 2-step verification process, which includes age estimation and digital identity verification to prevent circumvention.
Our AI-powered identity network maps relationships and connections, helping platforms stay compliant while ensuring minors do not gain unlawful or unsafe access to harmful content or services.
The Road Ahead
As India’s DPDP Act takes shape, companies must adopt proactive, tech-driven age verification to protect minors and their own reputations. Bureau’s solution bridges compliance and user experience, ensuring platforms stay ahead of regulatory curves while fostering safer digital ecosystems. The cost of inaction—legal penalties, eroded trust, and societal harm—is far too high to ignore.
Protecting minors isn’t just a legal obligation; it’s a moral imperative.
