The Greek government has launched “Kids Wallet,” a state-developed mobile phone application that allows parents to monitor their children’s screen time and verify their age on digital platforms and social networks.
The app is integrated with the government services platform, already used for paying taxes and navigating Greek bureaucracy, and works with existing digital identification systems for adults.
After downloading Kids Wallet on the child’s phone, parents can create a parent-child account using their online tax identification credentials. Then, they may choose which apps and websites their child can be permitted access to and set time limits for each. The parent also creates a “digital identity” for the child, which will verify the child’s age.
The new app does not allow parents to view their children’s messages yet. Parents can establish certain restrictions that will allow them to, for example, monitor the daily time of the minor’s online activity.
“We are giving parents a powerful tool to protect their children online,” said Digital Governance Minister Dimitris Papastergiou, presenting the new app in Athens.
“This is an application that Greece—and Europe—needs to confirm children’s ages when they use social media,” the Minister added. “It will also serve as an identification tool for upcoming initiatives.”
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed his support for the initiative, as well as his concern for the impact technology is having on family life. “You see families in restaurants where parents and children are all on their phones, and you wonder when they actually talk to each other,” he said.
Officials have invited major digital companies to roll out the app.
“Dear platforms, we ask for your cooperation so that together we can protect children at a vulnerable age,” Papastergiou said.
While similar software tools for limiting time online have been commercially available for decades, it is not usual to see governments stepping in to provide solutions of their own. The initiative is part of Greece’s broader efforts to protect minors from the harmful effects of online overexposure.
Greece’s broader strategy to curb screen time among children
In December, the Greek government presented its long-awaited national strategy aiming to protect minors from internet addiction and social media overexposure. It was announced that “Kids Wallet” would be launched in the spring.
The National Strategy for the Protection of Minors on Internet Addiction was introduced during an event at the Athens Conservatory in the presence of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Greece stopped short of an outright ban on social media for minors, which the Greek Prime Minister doubted would be effective. Instead, the proposed plan focused on strengthening parental controls and age verification, as well as setting time limits for children using their mobile phones.
Following the event, the government launched a website (parco.gov.gr) that parents may use as a tool. It provides user-friendly guides and instructions on how to set time and application limits on children’s mobile devices.
The plans to address the problem of social media delinquency among young users have been brought together by the Greek Prime Minister’s office. Mitsotakis has described the problem as a pan-European crisis.
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