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 platform to verify who that someone was, and makes no attempt to establish whether the consenting person actually understood what they were agreeing to and for what specific purpose,” he said.
A lawyer who did not wish to be named told MediaNama that edtech firms and their gaming-led products warrant greater scrutiny under DPDPA, given their target audience is primarily minors. PW Games is targeted for students from classes 3-10.
MediaNama has reached out to PhysicsWallah for a comment. The story will be updated if and when we receive a response.
PW Games Pro subscription will cost you Rs 299/month and unlock 50+ learning games and 12,000+ thinking and mental ability questions
The regulatory grey zone: The DPDP Rules, 2025 mandate that a data fiduciary must verify if the individual identifying as a parent is an adult through government-issued IDs like Aadhaar or a token from a Digital Locker Service Provider.
However, Aadhaar and the DigiLocker token mechanism,…
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