Peer-reviewed article
Does the GDPR offer a solution to the ’problem’ of sharenting?
Bessant C, Schnebbe M ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This paper examines sharenting—when parents share information about their children on social media—and explores whether the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) can protect children's privacy through its right to erasure. The study addresses gaps in understanding how children might use GDPR protections to remove shared information and whether parents acting as sharents are legally responsible as data controllers. The research contributes to the emerging discussion about balancing parental sharing practices with children's privacy rights.
Key points
- Sharenting refers to parents disclosing content about their children via social media
- Growing concerns exist about sharenting's impact on children's privacy
- No prior examination had been conducted on whether children could use GDPR's right to erasure to remove sharented data
- Limited academic work had considered whether sharenting parents are data controllers with GDPR obligations
- The 'right to be forgotten' has been proposed as a potential solution for children whose information is shared online
Limitations
The document is an abstract that does not describe the paper's methodology, findings, or conclusions about whether GDPR actually offers solutions to sharenting concerns. It does not provide evidence on whether children have successfully used GDPR protections or what the practical outcomes are.
Abstract
‘‘Sharenting,, is a term used to describe parents’ actions when they disclose content about their children using social media. Concerns are increasingly being expressed about the impact of sharenting upon children’s privacy, with suggestions being made that children whose information has been shared online should be afforded a right to be forgotten. To date, however, no-one has examined how or whether a child could use the General Data Protection Regulation (‘‘GDPR,,)’s right to erasure (the ‘‘right to be forgotten,,) to remove sharented personal data. Limited academic consideration has been given to whether parents who sharent are data controllers under the GDPR and thus subject to controllers’ obligations under that regulation.