WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Sacha Haworth, Executive Director of The Tech Oversight Project, issued the following statement after the Federal Trade Commission proposed updates to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA) that would place new restrictions on the use and disclosure of children’s personal information and further limit the ability of companies to condition access to services on monetizing children’s data:
“The FTC’s proposed improvements to COPPA represent urgently-needed steps towards creating a safer online environment for children. We applaud these proposed regulations, which would dramatically improve online safety and data security for kids under 13, and call for their speedy final approval. Parents have been crying out for help protecting young kids online, and the FTC came through. At the same time, we continue to advocate fiercely for legislation to protect older kids and teens too, including the national Kids Online Safety Act as well as state-level age-appropriate design code legislation.”