As children’s technology use skyrockets during
the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, lawmakers call on Congress to act with urgency
and update existing protections for kids and teens online
Washington (May 11, 2021) – Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Bill Cassidy
(R-La.) today introduced the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection
Act, legislation to update online data privacy rules for the 21st century and ensure both children and
teenagers are protected online. The legislation updates the Children’s
Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by prohibiting internet companies
from collecting personal information from anyone 13- to 15-years old without
the user’s consent; creating an online “Eraser Button” by requiring
companies to permit users to eliminate personal information from a child or
teen; and implementing a “Digital
Marketing Bill of Rights for Minors” that limits the collection of personal
information from teens. The bill also establishes a first-of-its-kind Youth
Privacy and Marketing Division at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which
will be responsible for addressing the privacy of children and minors and
marketing directed at children and minors.
“Over the past year, parents have seen
their children and teens spend more and more time online and they’re realizing
that the internet simply is not safe for kids and adolescents,” said
Senator Markey, original House author of COPPA. “Big Tech has a voracious
appetite for kids’ attention and data, and these companies have no problem
prioritizing their own profits over children and teens’ right to privacy. It’s
time for Congress to swiftly put in place strict safeguards that stop these
powerful platforms from tracking young people at every turn in the online
ecosystem. I thank Senator Cassidy for partnering with me on this urgent
issue.”
“Parents don’t
want internet companies targeting their children online,” said Senator
Cassidy. “We protect young children’s privacy, we should
protect teenagers online too. This bill prohibits internet companies from
collecting personal information on young teenagers without consent.”
Tracking
the online movements of children and teens and collecting their personal data
is a widespread and harmful practice among websites, applications, and online
actors of all kinds today. In 2021, companies collect and share information
about children and teens, compiling detailed digital dossiers for monetization
purposes.
Over 90% of parents
agree that existing children’s privacy rules should be extended to teenagers,
and the need for a comprehensive set of protections to safeguard children and
teen’s privacy online has become significantly more urgent as young people’s
time online has skyrocketed in recent years. Kids lack
key cognitive capabilities to safely
spend time online, yet during the COVID-19 pandemic, children’s use of the
internet
doubled by some
estimates, and over one in four teens report using social media
“almost constantly.”
A copy of the
legislation can be found
HERE.
The Children and Teens’ Online
Privacy Protection Act of 2021 would:
- Build
on COPPA’s consent requirements by prohibiting internet companies from
collecting personal information from users who are 13 to 15 years old
without the user’s consent;
- Ban
targeted advertising (as opposed to contextual advertising) directed at
children;
- Establish
a “Digital Marketing Bill of Rights for Teens” that limits the collection
of personal information of teens;
- Revises
COPPA’s “actual knowledge” standard to a “constructive knowledge”
standard so that websites that should reasonably know that kids are
on their websites need to get consent in order to collect children’s data;
- Create
an “Eraser Button” for parents and kids by requiring companies to permit
users to eliminate personal information from a child or teen when
technologically feasible;
- Establish
a Youth Marketing and Privacy Division at the Federal Trade Commission
(FTC);
- Require
online companies to explain the types of personal information collected,
how that information is used and disclosed, and the policies for
collection of personal information;
- Require
that internet connected devices targeted toward children meet robust cyber
security standards;
- Require
manufacturers of connected devices targeted to children and minors to
prominently display on their packaging a privacy dashboard detailing how
information is collected, transmitted, retained, used, and protected; and
- Commission
reports on the effectiveness of the COPPA safe harbor program.
“As many parents and
caregivers know, children and teens are unscrupulously exploited and taken
advantage of by pervasive data-driven digital marketing and entertainment
systems that are more and more deeply woven into the very fabric of their
lives,” said Katharina Kopp, Ph.D., Director of Policy for the Center for
Digital Democracy. “Many of today’s state-of-the art practices used
to target young people are manipulative and unfair. While the Children’s Online
Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) has provided limited safeguards for the youngest
children, this significant legislation introduced by Senators Markey and
Cassidy will go much further. It will end the very worst forms of predatory
advertising for the youngest children and expand protections to include young
adolescents. It will address a broad range of problematic marketing practices
that companies have been able to use up to now without any oversight or
accountability. Congress must pass this legislation without any delay and bring
about real improvements in the lives of children and teens online.”
“Common Sense strongly supports the bi-partisan effort to
strengthen the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and commends Senators
Markey and Cassidy for their work on behalf of kids. Today, too many companies
turn a blind eye to children and teens online--failing to offer them strong
protections all the while hoovering up their data and surveilling them more
than any other generation in history. Families deserve strong protections,
bright line rules, and focused enforcement. Businesses should not
continue to profit off of kids' vulnerabilities and attention spans and
monetize their every move. The Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection
Act will play a key role in better protecting children and equally vulnerable
susceptible teens from potential abuses online,” said Jim Steyer, CEO of
Common Sense.
“The Children and Teens’
Online Privacy Protection Act rightly recognizes that the internet's prevailing
business model is harmful to young people,” said Josh Golin, Executive
Director, Campaign for Commercial-Free Children. “The bill's strict limits on
how kids' data and can be collected, stored, and used – and its all-out ban on
targeted ads for children under 13 – would give children a chance to develop a
healthy relationship with media without being ensnared by Big Tech’s
surveillance and marketing apparatuses. We commend Senators Markey and Cassidy
for introducing this landmark legislation and urge Congress to act quickly to
put children’s needs ahead of commercial interests,” said Josh Golin,
Executive Director, Campaign for Commercial-Free Children.
“For far too long, technology corporations have relied on
exploitative data practices, including unethical collection of personal and
location data from children,” said Jade Magnus Ogunnaike, Senior Director of
Campaigns at Color of Change. “For decades, companies have disproportionately
targeted Black children for dangerous products in a long-line of predatory
marketing tactics that have expanded the harm of Black communities. Even now,
Facebook is allowing advertisers to target children ages 13-17 for content
related to alcohol, drugs, diet pills, and gambling. Implementing the updated
provisions of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) is a big
step toward protecting kids on the internet, and effectively reigning in Big
Tech’s exploitative data practices. Prohibiting ad targeting based on race and
socioeconomic status for children provides the necessary privacy for creating a
safe digital space and preventing discrimination online. Color Of Change
commends Senator Markey for reintroducing this bill and will continue to demand
legislation from Congress that will effectively protect the privacy of Black
people, especially children, online.”
Groups endorsing the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy
Protection Act include American Academy of Pediatrics, American Heart
Association, Common Sense Media, Center for Digital Democracy, Campaign
for a Commercial Free Childhood, Consumer Federation of
America, Consumer Action, Children Now, Color of Change, Berkeley Media
Studies Group, Focus on the Family, Restore the Fourth, and the Public Health Institute.
