Youth Privacy

Children's online privacy has become a top priority in the United States at both the federal and state levels. Policymakers may set underlying legal protections for appropriate data collection and use by governments, businesses, organizations, and other entities that collect, process, and share young people’s data. Key considerations under debate include determining the appropriate age of digital consent, providing consent rights to the parent or the child, promoting a consent-based or rights-based framework, and relying on comprehensive or sector-based legislation. 

Below are federal and state legislation regarding Youth Privacy. For additional information regarding Youth Compliance at UF, please visit Youth Compliance - University of Florida.

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)  

Congress enacted the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in 1998. COPPA required the Federal Trade Commission to issue and enforce regulations concerning children’s online privacy. COPAA gives parents control over what information websites can collect from their kids. The COPPA Rule puts additional protections in place and streamlines other procedures that companies covered by the rule need to follow. 

Currently, the law requires operators of games, websites, apps, and other online services catered to users under the age of 13 to obtain permission from a child's parent before collecting information about them. Given the rapid advances in technology and the pervasiveness of the internet in children's lives since the passage of COPPA, many privacy advocates have called for updates to COPPA to better protect the privacy of children. 

For additional resources regarding COPPA, please review Frequently Asked Questions on the Federal Trade Commission website.  

Student Online Personal Information Protection Act 

Fla. Stat. § 1006.1494 - Student online personal information protection, limits the collection, use, and disclosure of student personal information by the operators of websites, online services, and apps used primarily for or designed and marketed for K-12 school purposes. It covers student personally identifiable information provided to the operator when a student is using the service.  

Florida Digital Bill of Rights 

This statute establishes a digital bill of rights for Floridians and includes a section containing requirements for protecting children on online platforms. It also includes a list of the activities that online platforms are prohibited from engaging in using children’s personal information, focusing on uses that may result in substantial harm or privacy risk to children.