Do Not Track Kids Act Back in Congress

The Do Not Track Kids Act has been reintroduced into Congress by Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Representative Joe Barton (R-Tex.) and Representative Bobby Rush (D.-Ill). In short, it is a COPPA for teenagers.

The bill would extend the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA) to children as old as 15 and provide them with the ability to delete their data (similar to the right to erasure provided for in the GDPR). Given the amount of time spent online among the younger generation these days, the bill seems like a timely update to a law initially passed well before the modern mobile phone era.

The Do Not Track Kids Act would do so by by prohibiting the collection of personal and location information from anyone under 13 without parental consent and anyone 13 to 15 years old without user consent.

Where technologically feasible, companies would need to permit users to click an “eraser button” to eliminate the publicly available personal information submitted by a child.

It would prohibit the use of data for advertising to children and establish a Digital Marketing Bill of Rights for Minors that limits the collection of personal and geolocation information of minors.

Companies would also need to meet cybersecurity and data security standards established by the Federal Trade Commission for all internet connected devices targeted at children and minors. These devices would also need to prominently display a privacy dashboard on packaging detailing the device’s collection, use and sharing of sensitive information.

The bill has been introduced previously in 2011, 2013 and 2015. Given the current privacy climate in light of GDPR and the Facebook – Cambridge Analytica scandal, the legislation finds a more favorable climate than in the past.

This is the fourth privacy bill that has been talked about in Congress in recent months. The BROWSER Act, the CONSENT Act, and the Social Media Privacy & Consumer Rights Act of 2018 have all been previously introduced into the House or Senate.

In addition to privacy generally, there has been a special focus among some on kids. U.S. lawmakers asked Amazon if its Alexa devices are collecting data on children. Youtube also fell under potential scrutiny by the FTC when advocacy groups filed a complaint asking for its practices to be investigated. The FTC itself also sent warning letters to two foreign companies that were allegedly collecting geolocation data on children in potential violation of COPPA. With the warning letters, the FTC said that even those companies based outside the United States must comply with the law when their items are directed at U.S. children or they knowingly collect information from U.S.-based children.

We are following the Do Not Track Kids Act in Congress closely and will post updates here as we have them.

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Other Blog Posts on Privacy Bills in the US Senate:

American Data Dissemination Act – Senator Marco Rubio.
Data Care Act – 15 Senate Democrats led by Senator Schatz
Consumer Data Protection Act – Draft by Senator Wyden
Senator Thune Privacy Bill
8 Proposals on Privacy from Draft Senate Policy Paper
Social Media Privacy and Consumer Rights Act introduced into Senate
Senate to Consider CONSENT Act for Enhanced Privacy Protections Online