The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and its proposed update, often referred to as COPPA 2.0, are US laws designed to protect the privacy and safety of children online.
This law does not require proactive age assurance but instead relies on user self-declaration. If users admit they are under 13, specific mechanisms approved by the Federal Trade Commission allow a parent or guardian to give permission for the child to use the website.
Key provisions of COPPA
The law came into force in 1998 and applies to any digital service accessible to US children.
Fines of up to $50k per violation can be imposed.
Verifymy can assist in estimating users’ ages based on data they may already provide during the sign-up process, such as their name, address, and email address, or verify children’s ages using an identity document.
In July 2024, in a decisive move to enhance children’s online safety, two proposals to update Federal legislation were merged into one and passed by the US Senate. This package of bills, comprising the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0), garnered overwhelming bipartisan support, passing with a 91-3 vote.
At the end of September 2024, The U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce advanced the highly debated versions of KOSA and COPPA, now referred to as KOSA 2.0. and COPPA 2.0, marking a renewed legislative push to tackle the complex issue of online safety for minors.
COPPA 2.0, an updated version of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, is a legislative proposal designed to enhance the privacy and protection of minors in the digital age. This updated act extends protections to include not only children under 13 but also teenagers up to their 17th birthday.
This measure prevents online companies from collecting personal data from this age group without VPC and bans targeted advertising toward teens up to 17. Furthermore, it grants young users the right to have their personal information deleted, empowering them to better control their online presence and privacy and thereby, helping to create a safer and more secure online environment for children and teens.
Neither requires proactive age assurance, although some commentators have argued that it may lead to services choosing to check the age of their users to reduce their risk of inadvertent non-compliance. The Bill will provide funding to the National Institute of Standards and Technology to conduct more research and develop a set of voluntary standards for the safety of minors on online platforms.
The passage of these bills marks a significant step towards creating a safer digital environment for children and teens. However, we must recognise that this is just the first hurdle. It is unclear if the House of Representatives will support the Bill, with both left and right-wing members expressing concerns.
Verifymy’s age assurance solution for any online product, service or business, features the widest range of age verification and age estimation methods to ensure the highest pass rates possible with minimal business disruption.
