Ofcom consults on supporting bereaved parents

Ofcom has published draft industry Guidance as part of a consultation to set out the steps they expect online providers of relevant services to take in order to help bereaved parents get the answers they need about their use of their services. The Online Safety Act puts forward requirements on tech firms about how they can be more transparent and reduce uncertainty for bereaved parents. The Act requires Ofcom to produce guidance to help the companies comply with this.

Ofcom propose that this Guidance can go further than the law requires, and has therefore put out steps to ensure that bereaved parents are treated with dignity and respect.

Our draft Guidance expects services, among other things, to:

• provide clear and accessible information in their terms of service about their information disclosure policy, including how bereaved parents can make requests and the evidence required;
• ensure they respond to bereaved parents in a timely manner;
• offer a support function – which might be a helpline – to bereaved parents; and
• operate a simple to use, easy to access and transparent complaints function, with a nominated team or individual responsible for handling concerns, and a clear response timeframe.

Ofcom’s draft Guidance

Views on this from industry are being sought, and comments must be submitted by 23rd March 2026.

Separately, Ofcom has also finalised Guidance on data preservation. This is in relation to where Ofcom issues a ‘Data Preservation Notice’ on the request of a coroner who is investigating the death of a child. There are cases where some online platforms delete a user’s data if there is a period of inactivity, and this Guidance should help coroners provide the correct information so that Ofcom can swiftly act to help ensure data is preserved.