India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 treats a child's data as a special category. For anyone under 18 the platform needs verifiable consent from a parent or guardian, must not run behavioural advertising or tracking directed at the child, and must not process data in a way likely to harm the child's wellbeing.
In practice that shapes product decisions, not just a policy page. It means the account belongs to the parent, not the child. It means collecting a first name and a year of birth instead of a full name, school and address. It means a share link that expires rather than a public profile, and an export-and-delete button that actually works.
Five questions worth asking any children's app before you register. Who owns the account — my child or me? What is the minimum data you need, and what are you asking for beyond that? Is anything about my child public or searchable by default? Who can see a shared record, and for how long? If I leave, what happens to the data, and how long do backups keep it?
Good answers are specific and short. If an app cannot tell you where its data is hosted, how long it retains records after deletion, or who its grievance officer is, treat that as the answer. Ours are on our Trust & Safety and Privacy Policy pages, and our grievance officer replies within the statutory timeline.