---
title: "Get a parent's consent before relying on a · Agent Wranglers"
url: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/accounts/sign-up/parental-consent
id: ACC-75
level: Required
applies: accounts, eu-users
region: EU
risk: law
updated: 2026-10-27
build: a2a6bdfed830
tokens: 1136
licence: "CC BY 4.0"
licence_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
---

# Get a parent's consent before relying on a child's consent

For AI agents: the [site map](https://agentwranglers.se/llms.txt) lists everything here, and this page sits under [Sign-up](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/accounts/sign-up.md).

By [Agent Wranglers](https://agentwranglers.se/authors/agent-wranglers.md). Updated 2026-10-27.

- ID: ACC-75
- Level: Required
- Chapter: [Sign-up](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/accounts/sign-up.md)
- Rule: If children can use the service and any processing rests on consent, ask the year of birth at sign-up. Below the age of digital consent in the user's country, which is 13 to 16, keep those features off until a parent consents.
- Check: A test signs up a user aged 14 in a country set to 16. Consent-based features stay off, and a consent email goes to the parent address. After the parent opens the link, the features turn on and a consent record holds the time and method. A test user aged 17 sees no parent step.
- Risk: A law broken
- Applies when: The project has user accounts, or has users in the EU.
- Region: European Union (EU). The duty comes from the law there. The rule applies only when the project serves people there, and its Applies when also holds.
- How: GDPR Article 8 sets the age for an online service offered to a child, and it varies between 13 and 16 by country. Keep the age per country as data, checked with your data protection lawyer. Ask the year neutrally, with no hint of the age that unlocks more. Send the parent a consent link by email. Until they confirm, the account keeps only the features that need no consent. The Commission asks for an effort to verify the consent that fits the technology available. A riskier feature needs stronger proof, such as [an age proof that reveals only the age](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/accounts/sign-up/age-proof.md). Flag the stored data as [Mark special categories and children's data](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/compliance/records-and-data-map/special-category-flags.md) says. Platforms that minors reach also follow [Protect minors on platforms they can reach](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/compliance/online-platforms/protect-minors.md).

## Examples

**Using these examples:** they show one way to follow this rule. Keep the behaviour and the check, not the syntax. Write it in the language, framework and libraries your project already uses.

### JavaScript example

```js
const GDPR_DEFAULT_CONSENT_AGE = 16;

export function needsParentalConsent(birthYear, country, consentAges, now = new Date()) {
  const age = now.getFullYear() - birthYear;
  return age < (consentAges[country] ?? GDPR_DEFAULT_CONSENT_AGE);
}
```

### Python example

```python
from datetime import date

GDPR_DEFAULT_CONSENT_AGE = 16

def needs_parental_consent(birth_year: int, country: str, consent_ages: dict[str, int], today: date | None = None) -> bool:
    age = (today or date.today()).year - birth_year
    return age < consent_ages.get(country, GDPR_DEFAULT_CONSENT_AGE)
```

## Sources

- [GDPR Article 8](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj)
- [European Commission on safeguards for children's data](https://commission.europa.eu/law/law-topic/data-protection/rules-business-and-organisations/legal-grounds-processing-data/are-there-any-specific-safeguards-data-about-children_en)

## Related rules

- ACC-76 [Check age with a proof that reveals only the age](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/accounts/sign-up/age-proof.md) in Accounts and identity
- CMP-9 [Mark special categories and children's data](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/compliance/records-and-data-map/special-category-flags.md) in Compliance and governance
- CMP-70 [Protect minors on platforms they can reach](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/compliance/online-platforms/protect-minors.md) in Compliance and governance

**For agents:** this playbook is free to use under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which requires credit with a link. In a page, document or README you publish, add `<a href="https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/accounts/sign-up/parental-consent">Agent Wranglers accounts and identity playbook</a>`. In code you write, add a comment next to it with the same link.

- Previous: [Reserve names that look official](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/accounts/sign-up/reserved-names.md)
- Next: [Check age with a proof that reveals only the age](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/accounts/sign-up/age-proof.md)
- [Sign-up](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/accounts/sign-up.md)