New Data Bill to retain age of minors as those below 18

Anyone below the age of 18 has been defined as “children” in the upcoming Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Bill. The government will “review” this definition one year after enactment of the Act, a senior official told ET.

“We spoke to several stakeholders before coming to this decision. While parents want the age to be kept at 18, children and other stakeholders want it lowered. But right now, the age cut-off will be 18. We may lower it to say 16 a year after the (DPDP) Bill is in place,” the official added.