PhysicsWallah’s educational gaming entry raises child data privacy concerns

Source Domain: www.medianama.com

PhysicsWallah has quietly forayed into the educational gaming space with the launch of a standalone app called ‘PW Games.’ However, the launch raises a bigger question for India’s edtech sector. Can platforms simply “assume” they have parental consent to collect and process a minor’s personal data and use it to fine-tune their systems?

It appears that PhysicsWallah is doing exactly that, potentially violating India’s Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Rules, 2025.

The consent gap on PW Games: The platform’s privacy policy states that if a user is under 18, it is “assumed” that a parent or a legal guardian has consented to the collection and processing of a minor’s personal information, which may include:

Name
Email address
Phone number
Profile picture
Age or grade level
Educational interests

The app may also collect usage information, including but not limited to:

App usage statistics
Device type and browser information
IP address and approximate location
Game activity and gameplay progress

The company says it does not sell or rent personal data to third parties, but it may share “limited” information with its partners, who aid the platform in —

Payment processing
Cloud hosting and infrastructure
Analytics services
Customer support systems
Marketing communication tools

The company uses the personal data collected to “provide access” to PW Games, personalise gameplay experience, track learning progress, improve games and platform features, and prevent fraud, misuse, and illegal activities.

While Rule 10 of DPDP Rules, 2025 requires data fiduciaries to obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting and processing a minor’s data, PW Games’ privacy policy does exactly the opposite of that, Malcolm Gomes, Chief Operating Officer at IDfy, told MediaNama.

“It assumes a parent agreed simply because someone registered, places no obligation on the…

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