As governments worldwide push for tougher child-protection laws online, child-safety technologist Stephen Antony Venansious has raised serious concerns that some of these well-intentioned measures could unintentionally expose children to new forms of risk. He cautions that mandatory age-verification systems and expanded personal data collection may undermine children’s privacy and safety rather than strengthen it.

Venansious argues that requiring children to submit facial data, identity documents or other sensitive personal information just to access online games, learning platforms or social spaces represents a fundamental failure in child protection. “If we ask a child to surrender their face or identity just to play or learn online, we have already failed them,” he said, stressing that safety mechanisms should never come at the expense of a child’s right to privacy.Instead of focusing on verifying who children are, Venansious believes the global policy debate should prioritise preventing harmful behaviour online. To that end, he has developed a technology-driven solution that detects grooming, abuse and other risky interactions through on-device behavioural analysis. The system works without biometric verification, centralised databases or the storage of personal identifiers.

The tool, offered as an Application Programming Interface (API), is designed for use across gaming platforms, educational services and social media networks. According to Venansious, it can flag dangerous interactions in real time without collecting photographs, identity proofs or other sensitive data from minors, thereby reducing the risk of data breaches or misuse.

His comments come at a time when child-safety legislation is rapidly evolving across multiple regions. In the United States, proposed federal rules could require digital platforms to verify the age of nearly all users. Apple CEO Tim Cook has publicly opposed such measures, warning that they could force companies to collect and store vast amounts of sensitive documentation from minors, creating new privacy and security vulnerabilities.

Australia is also considering nationwide restrictions that would limit social media access for users under 16, while US states such as Texas and Utah have already advanced similar laws. These developments have sparked widespread concern among privacy advocates, who fear that increased surveillance and data collection could do more harm than good.

India is facing comparable challenges. A NITI Aayog–supported report revealed a 32 per cent increase in cybercrimes against children between 2021 and 2022, highlighting growing exposure to cyberbullying, online predators and privacy violations. The report also noted that children are spending significantly more time online, while parental awareness and digital literacy levels vary sharply across households.

International organisations have echoed these concerns. In a statement issued on December 9, UNICEF warned that blanket bans and rigid age-based restrictions could “backfire” by pushing children toward unregulated and potentially more dangerous online spaces. The agency emphasised that effective child protection should be rooted in safer platform design, stronger content moderation and improved digital literacy, without compromising children’s rights to privacy and participation.

As governments continue to frame new digital safety regulations, experts are urging policymakers to strike a careful balance. The challenge, they say, lies in enhancing online safety without turning child protection into another form of mass surveillance.

Venansious believes the path forward is clear. “The task is to protect childhood without turning children into data points,” he said, adding that it is possible to prove that safety and privacy can coexist in the digital age.