The Privacy-Safety Paradox: Reconciling Child Rights in Digital India

Abstract

In the era of technological and digital advancement, there is a radical transformation in the mode of interaction among children. This article interrogates one of the most consequential normative tensions in contemporary Indian digital governance: the Privacy-Safety Paradox as it applies to children navigating the algorithmic architectures of social media and educational technology platforms. Employing a mixed doctrinal and empirical methodology, the study synthesises primary survey data collected from 157 respondents across 13 Indian states comprising students, parents, legal professionals, and technology educators  with doctrinal analysis of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act), the constitutional right to privacy under Article 21, International children's rights instruments, and comparative global regulatory frameworks. The empirical findings reveal a deeply internalised societal preference for child safety over informational privacy (68.1% rating safety as the higher priority at scales 45/5), yet simultaneously expose structural deficiencies in parental digital literacy, widespread age circumvention behaviour among minors (53.6% admitting to lying about age online), and significant professional scepticism regarding the DPDP Act's adequacy in balancing these competing values. The article critically evaluates the internal contradictions within the DPDP Act particularly the tension between Section 9 blanket parental consent regime and the emerging concept of the ‘mature minor's right to informational autonomy’ and benchmarks Indian law against the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the United Kingdom's Age Appropriate Design Code (UK AADC), and the United States' Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The study concludes with a calibrated taxonomy of reforms: a graduated digital consent age, mandatory algorithmic impact assessments for child users, prohibition of behavioural advertising targeting minors, and the establishment of a Children's Digital Rights Authority with suo motu investigative powers.