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As expected, Congress’ renewed focus on expanding protections for minors online has resulted in legislative developments that attempt to mitigate harms while adhering to the Constitution’s free speech and preemption parameters. Last month, updates to both the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) 2.0 bills were released

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During 2023, legislative, congressional, and executive actions aimed at protecting children and teens online took center stage. Such actions included: legislative attempts to raise the age of a “child” at both the federal and state levels for advertising and privacy purposes; bans on behavioral advertising targeting minors; efforts to restrict access to social media by

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Children’s and teen’s online privacy and safety – particularly their mental health – continues to be an area of intense scrutiny for lawmakers, regulators, and enforcers. Last May, the Biden administration announced the creation of a new task force focused on the safety, privacy, and wellbeing of children online, linked to an Advisory on Social

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On September 18, 2023, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California granted a preliminary injunction to NetChoice, a tech umbrella group, against California Attorney General Rob Bonta from enforcing the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (CAADCA). The court found the CAADCA, which was slated to take effect on July 1, 2024

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On July 13, 2023, a three-judge Ninth Circuit panel denied Google’s challenge of its earlier decision in Jones v. Google, which held that state privacy law claims in a putative class action are not preempted by the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The December decision reversed a lower court’s dismissal of the

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The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Rule (COPPA Rule) requires that online sites and services directed to children under 13 obtain parental consent before collecting or using children’s personal information and lists existing methods for such consent. Now the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is seeking comments on whether it should expand its parental consent methods

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When the California legislature passed the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (CAADCA or Act) AB 2273 in September of this year, it generated considerable controversy. Companies, trade associations, and even some non-governmental organizations questioned whether the law’s broad reach was not just counterproductive and likely to invade consumer privacy, but preempted by federal law and

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At a press conference on August 11, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) announced an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR), which was published, along with a fact sheet, to explore potential new rules governing what the FTC characterizes as prevalent “commercial surveillance” and “lax data security practices.” The FTC issued the

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On August 24, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) submitted a report to the Congressional Committees on Appropriations detailing current resources and personnel dedicated to COPPA enforcement, the number of COPPA violation investigations over the past five years, and the types of relief obtained in completed investigations. The report was submitted in response