Ensuring Child Safety in Playschools Under the DPDPA Act

Protect Your Playschool. Protect Every Child

Playschools are built on one powerful foundation: trust. Parents hand over their children at the most vulnerable age, believing the school will protect them, nurture them, and act in their best interests. In today’s digital world, that responsibility goes beyond physical safety — it includes protecting a child’s digital identity.

India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA) 2023 places special emphasis on safeguarding children’s data. For playschools, compliance with DPDP is not just a legal requirement, it is an extension of child safety itself.

Why Children in Playschools Need the Highest Level of Data Protection

Children in playschools cannot understand or control how their personal data is used. Every photo, video, note, or record is created and shared entirely on their behalf.

Playschools typically handle highly sensitive data, including:

• Child photographs and videos
• Daily activity updates
• Parent contact details
• Medical or allergy information
• Behaviour and development observations
• CCTV footage
• Admission records

DPDPA recognises children as a protected category and requires institutions handling their data to apply extra care, stricter safeguards, and clear accountability.For playschools, this means digital care must match the same standards as physical care.

Parental Consent: The First Layer of Child Safety

Under DPDPA, verifiable parental consent is mandatory before collecting or using a child’s personal data.

For playschools, this consent must be:

• Clear and specific
• Easy for parents to understand
• Purpose-based (photos, videos, communication, apps, etc.)
• Properly recorded
• Revocable at any time

Consent should never be hidden inside long admission forms or assumed through silence. Parents must know exactly how their child’s data is being used and must have the freedom to say no. When consent is handled transparently, it strengthens parent trust rather than creating friction.

Safe Photo and Video Sharing: Protecting Children’s Identity

Sharing photos is common in playschools, parents love seeing their child paint, play, or participate in activities. However, informal sharing methods such as WhatsApp groups or shared folders pose serious risks.

These practices can lead to:

• Photos being seen by unrelated parents
• Images being forwarded outside the school
• Loss of control over where a child’s image ends up
• Long-term digital exposure of very young children

DPDPA requires playschools to limit access strictly and share media only for approved purposes. Secure, privacy-first platforms ensure that only the child’s parents receive their child’s photos, nothing more. This protects the child’s dignity and future digital footprint.

No Tracking, No Profiling, No Targeting of Children

DPDPA strictly restricts tracking, profiling, or targeted use of children’s data.

For playschools, this means:

• No behavioural profiling through apps
• No tracking beyond essential safety needs
• No use of children’s data for marketing or analytics
• No third-party misuse of student information

Any digital tool used by the playschool, including learning apps, cameras, or communication platforms, must respect these boundaries. Choosing privacy-first tools is a key part of child safety under DPDP.

Staff Awareness: Preventing Accidental Harm

Most data incidents in playschools are not malicious; they are accidental.

• A teacher might share a photo in the wrong group.
• An admin may store documents on a personal device.
• A staff member might respond incorrectly to a parent request.

DPDPA highlights the need for staff awareness and training. When teachers and caregivers understand safe data practices, child safety becomes a daily habit rather than a rulebook.

Training ensures that every adult in the school protects children consistently — both offline and online.

Data Minimisation: Collect Less, Protect More

Playschools should collect only what is necessary. Over-collection increases risk and exposure.

DPDPA encourages schools to:

• Avoid unnecessary documents
• Limit storage of old photos and videos
• Delete data when it is no longer needed
• Keep records clean and purposeful

Less data means fewer risks and stronger protection for children.

Why DPDP Compliance Builds Parent Confidence

Parents today are increasingly aware of digital risks. A playschool that demonstrates responsible data practices sends a clear message:

• Your child is safe here
• Your trust matters to us
• We respect your family’s privacy
• We act responsibly in the digital world

DPDP compliance becomes a visible sign of quality, care, and professionalism.

Child Safety Includes Digital Safety

Playschools shape the earliest experiences of trust in a child’s life. In the DPDP era, that trust must extend to the digital world.

By adopting clear consent practices, secure media sharing, trained staff behaviour, minimal data collection, and privacy-first tools, playschools can ensure that every child is protected: physically, emotionally, and digitally. Child safety does not stop at the classroom door. It continues wherever a child’s data exists

Build a DPDP-ready playschool with privacy-first systems designed for early-age institutions. Book a Free Child Data Safety Consultation