Who Can Consent for a Child Under BC Privacy Law?

Why consent is the heart of it

Almost everything you do with personal information under PIPA rests on consent: you collect, use, and disclose it with the individual's agreement, unless a specific exception applies. That raises an obvious question for a children's program: can a seven-year-old consent to anything? Usually not in a meaningful way, which is why parental or guardian consent matters so much here. Getting it right protects the child, respects the family, and keeps your organization on solid ground.

BC sets no magic age

Unlike some laws that pick a birthday, BC's PIPA does not set a minimum age of consent. Instead it asks whether the individual can understand the nature and consequences of what they are consenting to. The BC OIPC has said age 12 is generally recognized as old enough for a minor to consent, but it stresses this depends on the individual and the circumstances.

In a community program, most children are younger than that, so in practice you will rely on a parent or guardian. For an older youth, consider whether they can understand the specific choice in front of them.

Who actually counts as a guardian

When a child cannot consent for themselves, PIPA allows an authorized person, such as a guardian, to consent on their behalf. Who that is comes from BC's Family Law Act. Generally, a child's parents are their guardians, but there are wrinkles worth knowing:

• Guardianship can be changed by a court order or an agreement, so a parent is not automatically a guardian in every situation.

• A parent who has never lived with the child is generally not considered a guardian, unless they regularly care for the child or an order or agreement says otherwise.

• More than one person can be a guardian, which matters in shared-custody families.

You do not need to become a family-law expert. You do need a sensible way to record who is authorized to enrol a child, and to be alert when a custody situation looks complicated.

Getting consent the right way

Good consent is specific and understandable. A few practices help:

1. 1

   Say what you collect and why, in plain language, at the point of sign-up. See how to explain data collection to community members for wording that works.

2. 2

   Separate the essentials from the optional. Consent to a photo being posted online is a different decision from consent to record an allergy.

3. 3

   Record what was agreed, by whom, and when, so you can honour it later.

4. 4

   Make it easy to change. A family can withdraw consent for future use, and you should have a way to act on that.

Recording consent cleanly at sign-up is far easier than reconstructing it later, and it connects directly to collecting less in the first place. For what actually counts as a child's personal information, see protecting children's personal information in BC programs.

How other provinces differ

If you operate outside BC, the picture shifts. The federal privacy regulator takes the view that, in all but exceptional cases, a child under 13 cannot meaningfully consent, so a parent or guardian must. Alberta, like BC, looks at capacity rather than a fixed age. Quebec's Law 25 has its own rules for minors. If your programs cross provincial lines, check the rule for each place you operate rather than assuming BC's approach applies everywhere.