Australia: Global Privacy Enforcement Network adopted report on children's privacy practices on websites and applications

On 25 March 2026, the Global Privacy Enforcement Network (GPEN) published a sweep report examining children's privacy practices across 876 websites and applications. The inquiry found that, while age assurance use has increased since 2015, 88% of platforms relied solely on easily circumvented self-declaration methods. It also highlighted that data collection has intensified, with 85% of privacy policies disclosing third-party data sharing, up from 51% a decade ago. It also found that only 56% of platforms set personal information to private by default, and 71% lacked child-friendly privacy communications, with parental dashboards present on only 25–35% of platforms featuring high-risk content or design features. Further, mobile applications were assessed as less safe than websites, and free services raised greater concerns than paid ones, reflecting differences in data-driven monetisation incentives. It also found that account deletion has improved, with 64% of platforms now offering an accessible process compared to just 29% in 2015.