Sens Markey and Cassidy Reintroduce Children and Teen’s Online Privacy Protection Legislation

Sens Edward Markey (D-MA) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) reintroduced the bipartisan Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0), which would update online data privacy rules for the 21st century and ensure children and teenagers are protected online. Senator Markey first introduced this legislation to update his original COPPA law in 2011 as a member of the House of Representatives and has introduced the bipartisan legislation in every Congress since. Specifically, the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act would:

• Ban targeted advertising to children and teens;
• Create an “Eraser Button” by requiring companies to permit users to delete personal information collected from a child or teen;
• Establish data minimization rules to prohibit the excessive collection of children and teens’ data;
• Revise COPPA’s “actual knowledge” standard to close the loophole that allows platforms to ignore kids and teens on their site; and
• Build on COPPA by prohibiting internet companies from collecting personal information from users who are 13 to 16 years old without their consent.