EPIC Applauds FTC’s Modernization of COPPA Rule, Recommends Improvements to Curb Behavioral Advertising and Protect Privacy for Children Online

In comments filed yesterday, EPIC applauded the Federal Trade Commission’s efforts to modernize the COPPA Rule and offered several recommendations to improve the efficacy of the FTC’s proposed changes. The Commission’s proposed changes include critical measures to rein in behavioral advertising that targets children. However, EPIC urged the Commission to tighten the exemption that allows companies to use children’s personal data more freely for “internal operations” and to broaden the definition of “third party” so that data sharing with all external parties—including adtech companies—is strictly regulated. EPIC also praised the enhanced data security and data retention provisions in the proposed Rule but suggested that the Commission incorporate additional data minimization tenets to “further mitigate the risks that unrestrained personal data collection and retention pose to children.”

EPIC regularly advocates for privacy safeguards for children online. Recently, EPIC filed comments in response to NTIA’s Initiative to Protect Youth Mental Health, Safety & Privacy Online. In December, EPIC filed an amicus brief in NetChoice v. Bonta in support of the California Age Appropriate Design Code.