The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has launched its largest public awareness campaign to date, aimed at helping parents support children to make safer choices online.
The campaign, Switched on to privacy, is backed by new research showing that 75% of parents are concerned their children are not making safe decisions online. It encourages parents and carers of primary school-aged children to have regular conversations about privacy, using a simple framework: “chat, choose, check”.
Macclesfield-based human-centred design agency Nexer Digital, which has worked with the ICO as its digital delivery partner since 2025, designed and built the campaign’s online hub. The platform has been created to engage parents of primary school-aged children with accessible, easy-to-use tools and guidance.
The project began in December 2025 and was delivered in two phases. An initial mobile-first prototype was tested with parents and carers before being refined and developed into a live service within the ICO’s existing website infrastructure.
The hub, developed on the ICO’s existing Umbraco platform, has been built to WCAG 2.2 Level AA accessibility standards and integrates with existing features such as Welsh language translation and site search, while maintaining a distinct campaign identity.
Simon Wissink, Account Director and Partner Manager at Nexer Digital, said: “Working with the ICO on such an important and high-profile campaign has been a valuable opportunity for our team. The challenge was to create an experience that is not only accessible and easy to use but genuinely empowers parents to take action. Through user research and iterative design, we’ve built a platform that supports meaningful engagement and can evolve with future campaigns.”
The campaign supports the ICO’s Children’s code, which requires organisations to prioritise children’s privacy and provide high levels of data protection by default. Alongside raising awareness, the initiative aims to drive measurable behaviour change.
To support this, Nexer Digital implemented enhanced analytics, enabling the ICO to track how users interact with resources, including downloading, bookmarking or sharing content, to better understand what helps parents prepare for conversations about online privacy.
Craig Wyna, Head of Digital at the ICO, said: “Switched on to privacy is about giving parents the confidence and tools they need to support their children in navigating the digital world safely. Nexer Digital has played a key role in bringing this vision to life through a platform that is accessible, engaging and built around user needs.”
Nexer Digital will continue to support and optimise the campaign through its ongoing partnership with the ICO, ensuring the platform develops in line with user needs and campaign performance.
The campaign hub is available at: ico.org.uk/SwitchedOn