Children's Privacy

On Tuesday, February 14, 2023, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing titled “Protecting Our Children Online.”  The witnesses included only consumer advocates, and no industry representatives.  As Committee Chair, however, Senator Durbin (D-IL) indicated that he plans to hold another hearing featuring representatives from technology companies.Continue Reading Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing on Children’s Online Safety

On February 16, 2023, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) released guidance for the video game industry on how to conform with the UK’s Age Appropriate Design Code when developing video games. This blog post summarizes the ICO’s recommendations for video game developers and designers when creating video games that are likely to be accessed by children under the age of 18. For more information about the UK’s Age Appropriate Design Code, see our previous blog posts here and here.Continue Reading UK Information Commissioner’s Office Publishes Guidance for Video Game Developers and Designers to Improve Data Protection in their Services

The Ninth Circuit recently held that the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which gives the Federal Trade Commission  authority to regulate the online collection of personal information from children under the age of 13, does not preempt consistent state law, potentially increasing the risk of class action litigation based on…

Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Holds COPPA Does Not Preempt Consistent State Law Claims Premised on COPPA Violations

Last week, New Jersey Assemblyman Herb Conway Jr. introduced a bill similar to the California Age-Appropriate Design Code (“CA AADC”) enacted in September.  The bill, NJ A4919, tracks the CA AADC in many respects but contains several notable differences, which we summarize below:

  • Covered businesses.  The CA AADC
… Continue Reading New Jersey Assembly Introduces Age-Appropriate Design Code Bill

On Wednesday, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) hosted a virtual event on “Protecting Kids from Stealth Advertising in Digital Media.”  The event featured industry professionals, legal and child development experts, researchers, and consumer advocates to discuss the regulation of digital advertising to children.  Panelists examined the online advertising techniques children are exposed to, children’s capacity to understand and recognize advertising, and the potential harms associated with advertising in an ever-evolving digital landscape.   Continue Reading FTC Hosts Event Regarding Children’s Experiences with Digital Advertising

On September 8, 2022, the Brazilian Data Protection Authority (“ANPD”) launched a public consultation on the processing of minors’ personal data (encompassing children under 12-years-old and adolescents between the ages of 12- and 18-years-old).  The consultation will conclude on October 7, 2022.  According to the ANPD, the purpose of the consultation is to resolve divergent interpretations among public authorities, academics, privacy professionals, and representatives of civil society regarding the Brazilian Data Protection Law’s (“LGPD”) provision on the processing of minors’ personal data (Article 14).  The Authority will use the feedback it receives to draw up guidelines on the topic and, possibly, amend the LGPD.Continue Reading Brazil’s ANPD Launches Public Consultation on the Processing of Minors’ Personal Data

On June 14, 2022, representatives of the EU’s Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network, together with several national data protection authorities in the EU and the secretariat of the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”), endorsed five key principles for fair advertising to children (see press release here).  These recommendations…

Continue Reading EU Consumer Protection and Data Privacy Authorities Adopt 5 Key Principles for Fair Advertising to Children

Today, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it anticipates proposing a privacy rulemaking this month, with comments closing in August.  This announcement follows the agency’s statement in December that it planned to begin a rulemaking to “curb lax security practices, limit privacy abuses, and ensure that algorithmic decision-making does…

Continue Reading FTC Announces Plans to Begin Privacy Rulemaking In June

On May 25, 2022, the Irish Data Protection Commission (“DPC”) issued 3 short guides for children, with the objective of raising awareness among adolescents about data protection and their privacy rights, as well as serving as a resource “for parents, educators and anyone [else] interested in children’s safety and wellbeing…

Continue Reading Irish DPC Publishes Child-Facing Privacy Guides

On May 19, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) adopted, on a unanimous basis, a policy statement reminding educational technology vendors (“ed tech vendors”) of their duty to comply with the substantive privacy protections of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) and the Commission-issued COPPA Rule.  The policy statement reiterates the requirements of the Rule and previous informal guidance from Commission staff, and makes clear that ed tech vendors may not submit children to commercial surveillance and data monetization practices when using technology in the classroom.Continue Reading FTC Unanimously Adopts Policy Statement on Education Technology and COPPA