Bereaved mum backs data disclosure law change

A bereaved mother is calling for social media firms to hand over children's data "now, before it's too late".

Ellen Roome, 48, from Cheltenham in Gloucestershire said she might never understand why her 14-year-old son Jools Sweeney took his own life three years ago.

MPs could agree on Wednesday that tech giants must hand over children's data to parents if their child has died as Max Wilkinson, the MP for Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, has proposed an amendment to the Government's Data Bill.

"If they've still got the chance to change it now, I want the Data Bill changed so that this is in there and we don't have to wait years for a new law to go through," Ms Roome said.

Jools died in April 2022, and Ms Roome believes his death could have been linked to an online challenge gone wrong.

She said if social media companies gave bereaved parents access to their child's data and a harmful trend had a role to play in their death, parents and coroners could "stop it happening to other children".

"If we've got a chance to change it, we need to do it now, before it's too late," she said.

The proposed bill would allow bereaved parents to request their child's user data from up to 12 months before their date of death.

Ms Roome sold the financial services business she had for 18 years to campaign for Jools' Law – a right for parents to access their deceased child's data without a court order.

She said: "There's so much sextortion, blackmail, bullying online that I just think that has to form part of an inquest these days."

Ms Roome said when she spoke to social media firms in her efforts to access her son's data she found they feared being fined or, in some cases, they did not respond.

She added Jools had "presented no mental health problems" and described her son as "very bright", "quick witted" and "very polite".

Liberal Democrat culture spokesman Mr Wilkinson said his amendment "comes down to everybody doing the right thing".

"This is just about the law keeping up with the way that families live their lives, that young people live their lives, and that society operates," he said.

The Data (Use and Access) Bill is expected to clear the Commons on Wednesday and move closer to becoming law.

The government has proposed in the draft legislation a new duty for the watchdog Ofcom to tell tech firms that they should not delete information about a child who has died, but they would not need to supply the data to parents upon request.

A spokesperson for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said: "No family should have to experience the devastating consequences of losing a child.

"From summer the Online Safety Act will introduce strong safeguards to protect children from harmful content online, including material encouraging dangerous stunts and challenges.

"In tragic cases where a child's death is linked to social media, under the Online Safety Act coroners will have the power to demand relevant data from platforms."

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