FTC Considering Significant Expansion of Children’s Online Data Privacy

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) is poised to open its updated rulemaking for the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) open for public comment.  First adopted in 2000, the Rule forbids online service providers and websites from collecting the personal information of individuals under the age of 13 absent verified consent from their parents.  The rule was last updated in 2013, and given the influx of data breaches and emergence of technology aimed at targeting private information in the last decade, the FTC is considering significant updates to the rule to continue to protect children’s information.  

Among the proposed changes include: strengthening data security requirements by requiring vendors to create and utilize a security program specifically aimed at children’s personal information, a limit on data retention requiring operators preventing them from keeping children’s personal information indefinitely or for any secondary purposes, and a limitation on the use of push notifications encouraging children to use certain services or applications more.  

These (and other) proposals would make substantial steps towards enhancing children’s data privacy in a continuously online world. Public comment will be available at the FTC’s website once the proposed rule is officially published in the Federal Register. The notice of proposed rulemaking can be found here.