May 2021

Participation of UpcoMinds as Project Coordinator in euConsent

In a bold step towards stronger online child protection in Europe, the euCONSENT consortium of twelve leading European academic institutions, technology providers and NGOs have received EU funding for the design, delivery and pilot implementation of age verification and parental consent services.

The goal is the creation of a solution which allows the service providers to verify the age of their users. As a result, younger kids will be effectively protected from their exposure to harmful and not suitable for their age contents and services. In those cases, access will not be granted or it will require parental consent.

The euCONSENT solution will be designed with the help of children and young people and under the guidance of the top academic experts of Europe, the technology providers, the NGO and others interested in children’s rights and their safeness on the internet.

Project coordinator, Kostas Flokos, UpcoMinds CEO, informs us:” The euCONSENT consortium brings together the top academics of Europe in the field of children’s rights, with the contribution of a wide variety of NGOs that represent parents and kids, in order to help with the design of a Intereuropean system for the protection of children when they are connected to the web. The project which will be delivered by the European companies that participate, will be used during a pilot phase by more than 1500 kids, teens and their parents and by, at least, three member states of the EU. The users’ experience will be evaluated independently to provide persuasive receipts for the solution’s usage by all members of the EU. For all of us “Make the web a safer space for Europe’s children” isn’t just a slogan but a substantial act of support for the children and society, and we are especially proud that our part in this consortium is important.”

Sonia Livingstone, Professor at London School of Economics and Political Science said: “The design of a system for the protection of children in the digital environment that truly respects their rights is an important duty and what many families demand. The challenge will be the service of the children’s best interest by balancing their rights in protection and security with their rights in participation and privacy. It is wonderful that this project will consult Europe’s kids from the beginning, and it will be guided by their opinions for the project’s final configuration.”

In the project, apart from UpcoMinds, which has taken over the role of a coordinator, AGEify is also taking part, which specializes in age verification mechanisms and is an Upcom spinoff.