Lawmakers also release updated text of COPPA 2.0 (PDF)
Washington (February 15, 2024) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), author of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Ranking Member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, today announced that Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Chair and Ranking Member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, have cosponsored an updated version of their Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0), which includes small modifications based on conversations with stakeholders and additional technical corrections. In July 2023, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee unanimously passed COPPA 2.0.
“Our updated COPPA 2.0 bill creates strong privacy protections for young people, bans targeted advertising to kids and teens, and creates an Eraser Button for parents and kids by requiring companies to permit users to delete information. With the additional changes to the bill, COPPA 2.0 is ready to advance in the Senate,” said Senators Markey and Cassidy. “Now is the time for Congress to act to protect young people’s privacy right now. We thank Chair Cantwell and Ranking Member Cruz for their support and co-sponsorship of this important legislation and look forward to working with congressional leadership to pass our COPPA 2.0.”
“The Internet has changed dramatically since the passage of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. The ever-changing scope and reach of the Internet requires action from Congress,” said Leader Schumer. “I am proud to work with Senators Markey and Cassidy on a bipartisan basis to try to get this bill over the finish line. We have to protect the next generation and allow for America’s children to have the privacy they deserve. This legislation would bring children and teen’s online privacy standards into the 21st century and limit them from being subjected to targeted advertising and harmful data collection practices.”
“Children and teens are uniquely vulnerable in the online world and can be unaware and overwhelmed by the ways social media platforms can use their personal information to target them,” said Senator Cantwell. “This bill strengthens protections, closes loopholes and raises the age of kids covered under our privacy law to make sure more children and teens are protected.”
“When Congress first passed the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, Americans were using dial-up to search 'Ask Jeeves' instead of Google. Now, kids can access the Internet in the palm of their hands, and tech companies routinely surveil and target America’s youth. I’m proud to have worked with Sens. Markey, Cantwell, and Cassidy on bipartisan legislation to empower parents to safeguard their children’s online privacy and hold tech companies responsible for keeping minors safe from data collection. Every child deserves to grow up free of a digital footprint, and this bipartisan legislation is one step closer to achieving that goal,” said Ranking Member Cruz.
As author of the landmark 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, Senator Markey has long championed protections for children and teens online. In May 2023, Senators Markey and Cassidy reintroduced the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0), legislation that would update online data privacy rules for the 21st century to ensure children and teenagers are protected online.
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