Child Safety / Design

Privacy & Safety by Design for Children.

Review the product for dark patterns, default privacy, profiling and excessive engagement while embedding child-protective design controls into the SDLC.

Business context

What this capability solves

Child-specific Privacy and Safety by Design implementation embedded into product architecture and software delivery.

EBP Integra delivery principle

Advice, controls, technology, governance, evidence and operating procedures are designed together so the capability can be sustained after implementation.

Deep-dive capabilities

Capability model

The service can be scoped as a focused engagement or combined into a broader enterprise programme.

Dark-Pattern Review

Assess manipulative design, nudging, choice architecture and friction that may disadvantage children.

Privacy-Protective Defaults

Set collection, visibility, contact, sharing and personalization defaults appropriate to child users.

Profiling Review

Assess profiling, recommendation, advertising and inference risks.

Engagement Safety

Review excessively engaging or compulsive design patterns and time/notification mechanics.

SDLC Control Gates

Add child privacy/safety evidence to design, build, test and release approvals.

Technical Control Design

Define minimization, access, consent, parental control and monitoring controls.

Reference operating model

How the capability fits together

Final scope, control ownership and delivery model are confirmed during discovery.

Governance & Scope

Objectives, applicability, decision rights, owners, policies, risk appetite and acceptance criteria.

Assessment & Design

Evidence collection, gap/risk analysis, target controls, architecture, procedures and prioritized roadmap.

Implementation

Controls, documentation, workflows, integrations, configuration, training and remediation.

Assurance & Operations

Testing, evidence, management reporting, escalation, review cadence and continuous improvement.

Controls & governance

Child-first risk and best-interest lens
Data minimization and privacy-protective defaults
Age/parental/guardianship governance
Dark-pattern and excessive-engagement review
Documented escalation for high-risk findings
Evidence suitable for regulator and management review

Priority use cases

Child-focused product
Game/social platform
Education platform
Recommendation/personalization
High-engagement app
Product redesign

Key deliverables

Design assessment
Dark-pattern findings
Default-setting requirements
Child-safety control blueprint
SDLC gates
Remediation backlog

Integration considerations

Product/SDLC governance
Privacy/PDP programme
Identity/age assurance
Consent/preferences
Trust & safety operations
Incident/complaint management

Implementation

Phased delivery

Each phase produces decision-ready evidence and clear ownership for the next stage.

1. DiscoverConfirm scope, stakeholders, obligations, evidence, dependencies and risk drivers.

2. Assess & DesignAnalyze current state, define target controls and agree the implementation roadmap.

3. ImplementDeploy controls, documents, workflows, training and required technology/integration.

4. Assure & OperateValidate effectiveness, close residual gaps, hand over and establish recurring governance.

Outcome and KPI framework

High-risk pattern closureProtective-default coverageRelease gate pass rateException trendChild-safety control adoption