COPPA 2.0

COPPA 2.0 is the nickname for the Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act. In the bill the House passed, that text is Subtitle A of Title VI of H.R. 7757, the Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act. It would amend the 1998 children's privacy law. It is not a separate statute on the books.

The House text would define a child as under 14 and a teen as 14 through 17. It would make individual-specific advertising to children or teens unlawful, with narrow exceptions such as contextual ads and a search the young person asked for. Older drafts talked about teens up to 16. The text that passed the House uses under 18 for the teen definition. If the Senate changes the bill, those ages can change.

Families hear COPPA 2.0 and think teens already have the same privacy rules as children under 13. They do not. A product can follow today's COPPA and still be outside a rule that Congress has not finished. Ask whether a claim says complies with COPPA, which is current law, or complies with COPPA 2.0, which is a bill.

The advertising piece is the part businesses watch. Individual-specific advertising means marketing aimed at a particular child or teen, or a device linked to them, using personal information or a profile. The House text still allows an age-appropriate ad that uses nothing more than the fact that the user is under 18. That is a narrower ban than no ads at all.

HeyOtto does not claim to comply with COPPA 2.0, because it is not law. Under today's COPPA, a parent creates the account, a child under 13 does not self-enroll, and setup asks for verifiable parental consent. There are no ads. Kids' chats are not sold, and conversations are not used to train models.

• The no-ads rule is a product choice today, not a claim that the House bill has passed.
• Parents can read chats and set topic limits per child.
• This describes the product. It is not a legal opinion on a future statute.