Children's Privacy

Subscribe to Children's Privacy

On 2 September 2021, the transition year for the Children’s code (or Age Appropriate Design Code) published by the UK Information Commissioner (“ICO”) ended. The ICO’s Children’s code was first published in September 2020, with a 12-month transition period. In an accompanying blog, the ICO has stated that it will be “proactive in requiring social media platforms, video and music streaming sites and the gaming industry to tell [the ICO] how their services are designed in line with the code.”

Over the summer, the ICO has also approved two certification schemes under the UK GDPR. The certification schemes provide organizations with a mechanism to demonstrate their high level of commitment to data protection compliance.

…
Continue Reading UK ICO’s Children’s Code Transition Year Ends and ICO Approves Related Certification Schemes

Yesterday, Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL) introduced an updated version of the “Protecting the Information of our Vulnerable Children and Youth Act” (Kids PRIVCY Act), which would make broad changes the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).  Rep. Castor introduced a similar bill in early 2020, but it stalled alongside other proposals to overhaul the federal children’s privacy law last year.…
Continue Reading Rep. Castor Reintroduces Bill to Rewrite the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act

On June 9, 2021, the French Supervisory Authority (“CNIL”) published recommendations to help strengthen the protection of minors online (see here, in French).  These recommendations are the result of a survey and public consultation conducted by the CNIL in 2020, which focused on the digital practices of minors (see our blog post here).  The results of the CNIL’s survey and public consultation indicate that children are accessing the Internet at an early age on a “massive” scale.  In light of this reality, the CNIL underscores the importance of ensuring that minors benefit from the effective protection of their personal data when engaging online.…
Continue Reading French CNIL Publishes Recommendations for Protecting Minors Online

This week, Senators Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) introduced the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act, which would update the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).  COPPA is the comprehensive federal children’s privacy law enacted in 1998 that regulates the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information online from children under 13. …
Continue Reading Senators Markey and Cassidy Introduce Bill to Update the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act

In January 2021, the French Supervisory Authority (“CNIL”) published a summary report of contributions it received in response to a public consultation and survey on the digital rights of minors launched in April 2020 (see the press release here and a summary report here, both in French).  Stakeholders who responded to the consultation included companies, professionals dedicated to the legal and educational issues related to children, parents and minors.
…
Continue Reading French Supervisory Authority Publishes Results of Public Consultation on the Digital Rights of Minors

On February 11, 2021, the European Commission launched a public consultation on its initiative to fight child sexual abuse online (the “Initiative”), which aims to impose obligations on online service providers to detect child sexual abuse online and to report it to public authorities. The consultation is part of the data collection activities announced in the Initiative’s inception impact assessment issued in December last year. The consultation runs until April 15, 2021, and the Commission intends to propose the necessary legislation by the end of the second quarter of 2021.
…
Continue Reading European Commission Launches Consultation on Initiative to Fight Child Sexual Abuse

On December 18, 2020, the Irish Data Protection Commission (“DPC”) published its draft Fundamentals for a Child-Oriented Approach to Data Processing (the “Fundamentals”). The Fundamentals introduce child-specific data protection principles and measures, which are designed to protect children against data processing risks when they access services, both online and off-line. The DPC notes that all organizations collecting and processing children’s data should comply with the Fundamentals. The Fundamentals are open for public consultation until March 31, 2021.
…
Continue Reading Irish DPC publishes draft Fundamentals for a Child-Oriented Approach to Data Processing

Judge Freeman of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed a class action against Google and several YouTube channel owners alleging various violations under California state law.  Plaintiffs alleged Defendants infringed their children’s privacy and consumer rights by collecting personal information and delivering targeted advertisements while they viewed child-directed YouTube videos.  However, the court found that Plaintiffs’ claims were expressly preempted by the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”), and dismissed the case with leave to amend.…
Continue Reading California District Court Tosses Kids’ Data Collection Suit, Finds COPPA Preempts State Law

The FTC recently updated Complying with COPPA: Frequently Asked Questions, the set of FAQs meant to provide informal guidance for complying with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and the Commission-issued COPPA Rule.  In an accompanying blog post, the FTC staff emphasized that the revisions to the FAQs “don’t raise new policy issues” and that they were implemented primarily to streamline and reorganize the content “to make the document easier to use.”  While the new FAQs generally only reinforce concepts from recent key settlements, enforcement policy positions, and separately-issued regulatory guidance, some of the updates also provide helpful additional context around specific issues such as mixed audience sites and services, age gates, and common consent mechanisms.…
Continue Reading Federal Trade Commission Updates, Streamlines COPPA FAQs

On 10 September 2020, the European Commission proposed an interim regulation designed to enable online communications service providers to combat child sexual abuse online. Once in force, this regulation will provide a legal basis for providers to voluntarily scan communications or traffic data on their services for the limited purpose of detecting child sexual abuse material online.
…
Continue Reading European Commission Proposes Interim Regulation to Combat Child Sexual Abuse Online