Protecting Children's Personal Data In Cyberspace: Common Issues In The EU's And Vietnam's Approaches

Hoang Le Quan*

1. Introduction

It is estimated that one in three Internet users is a child¹, and the number of children being online is growing rapidly with more time spending on the Internet than ever before.² A report from 2020 showed that children had spent around 134 to 219 minutes per day to be online.³ The 2023 report from Ofcom⁴ shows that almost all children went online (97%).⁵ Undoubtedly, this trend has created opportunities for children to learn, communicate and socialise, in addition to bring them to a greater world with lots of information; however, it also enhances the cyber threats and risks exposing to children, including a threat of their personal data being collected and processed illegally by online service providers.⁶ The recent development in the US where 41 states sue Meta for “harvesting [young users'] data and violating federal laws on children's privacy” exemplifies this threat.⁷