Personal Information Protection Commission

Press Release

The PIPC Discusses Youth Privacy with Policy Authorities in the Asia Pacific Region 

- The PIPC and KISA co-hosted a workshop under the theme of ‘Youth Privacy’ on the occasion of APEC SOM3 

- Policy recommendations incorporating inputs from experts in the Asia-Pacific region will be drawn up by the end of this year

June 29, 2025

(This is an unofficial translation of a press release, originally prepared in Korean.)

The Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) and the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) jointly hosted a workshop on youth privacy on the occasion of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Third Senior Officials’ Meeting and Related Meetings (APEC SOM3) at the Songdo Convensia in Incheon on July 29, 2025.

The PIPC and KISA have been drawing up ‘Policy Recommendations on Youth Privacy in the Asia-Pacific Region’ since March, as the Republic of Korea chairs the APEC 2025.

To this end, the PIPC sent a questionnaire to 21 APEC member states and conducted a literature review in June to find out their policy implementation status and social awareness of youth privacy. The workshop was held as a follow-up to this initiative. 

The PIPC and other participants at the workshop shared findings and gathered opinions from privacy practitioners and experts from the industry and other sectors to discuss future policy directions.

First up, Professor Kyongjin Choi of Gachon University gave a presentation on research findings regarding the current state of play of youth privacy and public awareness across the APEC region. He said, a consensus has been reached that the protection of youth privacy is needed, but considerations about age verification mechanisms or privacy by design and default for youth privacy are still insufficient. He also added that, “Timely discussions at the workshop led by Korea will provide an opportunity for policy authorities to develop concrete action plans to advance youth privacy in the Asia-Pacific region.” 

Then, lectures were given by experts from various sectors who have been working to respect the rights of youth data subjects. 

Maire-Ève Nadeau, Head of International Affairs at the 5Rights Foundation, highlighted that innovation requires youth participation to uphold their rights and ‘by design and default’ changes should be embedded in the service development process from scratch. The 5Rights Foundation is a global non-profit organization that engaged in establishing and disseminating the “Age Appropriate Design Code,” a leading initiative for youth privacy, created by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Angela Xu, Google’s Senior Privacy Counsel for APAC, introduced the company’s legislative framework that outlines key principles to comply with throughout the lifecycle of service development and deployment process. Based on this framework, she proposed key principles that respecting the best interests and developmental stages of children and teens, providing age-appropriate controls and features. 

The workshop also featured in-depth discussions across six key themes of youth privacy:

● Parental or legal guardian consent 

● Providing notice on what information is collected and used, tailored for children and teens 

● Age verification (assurance) 

● Supporting children and teens to exercise their rights (e.g., right to erasure) 

● Safeguarding against targeted advertising and online sexual exploitation 

● Age-appropriate privacy by design and default

The PIPC is going to announce policy recommendations on how to promote youth privacy by integrating research findings and discussions at the workshop, which will help data protection authorities in the Asia-Pacific region refer to by the end of this year. The policy recommendations will serve as best practices for youth privacy, contributing to the dissemination of Korea’s privacy norms in the region. 

Vice Chairperson Jang Hyuk Choi stated, “As digital natives, children and teens have been exposed to the collection and use of their personal information for various services from their early stage of life. In the context of AI, in particular, they are more vulnerable to risks arising from data misuse and abuse, such as targeted advertising and deepfakes.” He emphasized, “I hope this workshop serves as an impetus for the Asia-Pacific region to have further dialogues on youth privacy. The PIPC remains committed to advancing privacy protection levels in the Asia-Pacific region by taking the lead in privacy-norm setting discussions.” 

President Lee Sang-jung of the KISA, which co-hosted the workshop, said, “Today’s discussions aiming to provide more and safer opportunities for children and teens will be the cornerstone to lead a better future of digitalization.”

* A PDF file, formatted for better readability, is attached.