Greece Set to Implement Parental Controls Through New App
On Monday, Greece revealed its intentions to bolster parental control over mobile devices starting in 2025 with the introduction of a government-operated application designed for age verification and browsing moderation. The initiative, highlighted by the Minister of Digital Governance, Dimitris Papastergiou, aims to protect children under 15 from the dangers of excessive and inappropriate online usage.
The forthcoming app, named Kids Wallet, is slated for release in March, and will be integrated with a popular government services platform alongside an existing app for adults that facilitates digital identification. Papastergiou remarked on the significance of this initiative, indicating that it will incorporate sophisticated algorithms for monitoring internet use and implement rigorous authentication measures. “The Kids Wallet application will primarily simplify parental oversight and serve as our official national resource for validating user ages,” he emphasized in a statement to the press.
A recent survey conducted by a Greek research organization, KMOP, revealed that a substantial 76.6% of children aged 9-12 have access to the internet through personal devices. Furthermore, 58.6% engage with social media on a daily basis, while 22.8% reported encountering inappropriate online content. Many of these children appear to be unaware of fundamental safety features available to them, like the options to block or report harmful content, according to the study’s authors.
Papastergiou stated that the government aspires to have the Kids Wallet app pre-installed on smartphones sold in Greece by the end of 2025. Despite facing some opposition from digital rights advocates and religious organizations, government initiatives, particularly those launched during the pandemic, have generally received positive feedback from the public. These measures are seen as a means to navigate Greece’s traditionally sluggish bureaucratic processes.
The upcoming child protection system is poised to exceed existing regulations found in various European nations by fostering deeper government involvement. This framework aims to enhance accountability for social media platforms regarding the enforcement of age restrictions, as noted by Papastergiou. “The critical issue we face is the definition and verification of an individual’s age,” he pointed out. He explained that discrepancies can arise in online age verification, such as a 14-year-old falsely representing themselves as 18. “Now we have the tools to address this,” he concluded, underscoring the importance of accurate age validation in protecting children online.
