The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published its final Age Appropriate Design Code, a set of 15 standards companies providing online services will be required to meet or face regulatory action.

Elizabeth Denham, the information commissioner, said the code will be “transformational” and that future generations will be “astonished to think that we ever didn’t protect kids online”.

If approved by Parliament, this will be the first time that tech companies will have to put the best interests of the child at the forefront of their design, and proactively assess the risk against child abuse.

The code covers services likely to be used by children and which process their data. Digital services will be required to automatically provide children with a built-in baseline of data protections whenever they download a new app, game or visit a website.

This baseline will mean that digital products and services will come with highest privacy settings on by default and nudge techniques to encourage children to weaken their privacy settings should also be switched off by default.

Denham said that in the future these measures will considered “as ordinary as keeping children safe by putting on a seat belt”.

She said: “The ICO’s Code of Practice is the first concrete step towards protecting children online. But it’s just part of the solution. We will continue to work with others here in the UK and around the world to ensure that our code complements other measures being developed to address online harms.”

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Although the first of its kind, the code reflects a global trend towards similar reform being considered in the USA, Europe and globally by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The new standards come amid growing concerns over the impact technology and social media is having on young people, who are at risk of being exposed to explicit or harmful content.

Andy Burrows, head of child safety online at the NSPCC, said: “This transformative code will force high-risk social networks to take online harm seriously, and suffer tough consequences if they fail to.”

It is hoped the code, if approved, will come into force by autumn 2021. Developers and those in the digital sector will have a 12 month transition period, the ICO said.