GDPR4CHLDRN – Ensuring data protection in hobbies

Many children and young people participate in the activities of different kinds of clubs and associations in their free time. Clubs and associations process the personal data of children and young people in connection with hobbies and events, which means that they play an important role in the realisation of the protection of personal data of children and young people.

According to the Eurobarometer (2019), more than one third of 15–24-year-olds had never heard about the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In addition to children and young people, parents as well as clubs and associations working with children and young people need support and information to ensure that the personal data of children and young people are protected and give them guidance in matters related to data protection. Hobbies are a natural way to help children and young people understand their own rights and the importance of data protection better.

Clubs and associations are not always aware of the importance of data protection and their own obligations. The personal data of children and young people are processed by representatives of financial management, coaches and other volunteers, among others. All of them need clear instructions on how to comply with data protection legislation and apply with in their own activities.

The goal of the GDPR4CHLDRN project is to help children, young people and parents as well as people actively involved in clubs and associations better understand the processing of personal data and data protection legislation. The aim is to create informative icons that can be used to provide information about data protection to children, young people and their parents in a way that is easy to understand.

In addition, a practical toolkit to support compliance with data protection legislation and its application in everyday hobby activities will be created for clubs and associations in the project. Competence badges that can be used to identify and demonstrate competence related to data protection will also be created for the use of clubs and associations.

Young people from different kinds of backgrounds and their parents as well as clubs and associations organising hobby activities will be invited to join the development of materials and tools in the project. This is done to make sure that the tools and materials produced will serve the different target groups in the best way possible.

The tools and materials produced in the project will be published in Finnish, Swedish and English. The most important materials will also be translated into Russian, Estonian, Somali and Arabic.

The products of the project will be developed and piloted in cooperation with clubs and associations in workshops and by taking advantage of different kinds of surveys and interviews. The clubs participating in the pilots will be selected with the help of the project’s interest groups – the Football Association of Finland, the Finnish Olympic Committee and the Guides and Scouts of Finland.

The interest groups also support the communications of the project and disseminate messages to member clubs and associations. In addition, the project communicates with companies that offer services related to registration and member data management to clubs and associations, among other things.

The goal of the webinars and training sessions arranged in the project is to help clubs and associations better understand data protection on the national level. Events will be held starting from the late autumn of 2022. The times and dates of webinars and training sessions will be published on the project’s website and in its newsletters.

_{Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.}