American students are returning to classrooms with a changing online environment governed by a children’s privacy framework that has seen substantial updates in the past year. Despite Congress not completing its proposed overhaul, known as COPPA 2.0, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has tightened rules for services covered by the existing Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
Background
The existing COPPA, enacted in 1998, applies to covered websites and online services that collect personal information from children under 13. The proposed COPPA 2.0 would expand federal protections to teenagers ages 13 to 16, creating a broader privacy framework for minors. It would restrict individually targeted advertising using minors’ personal information and create an “eraser button” that would allow children and teens, or their parents, to request correction or deletion of personal information.
The FTC has finalized major amendments to the COPPA Rule, with most new requirements taking effect in 2026. The amended rule expanded the definition of personal information to include biometric identifiers and requires covered operators to obtain separate verifiable parental consent before disclosing children’s personal information to third parties for targeted advertising and certain other purposes.
Enforcement and State Laws
Enforcement has continued under current law as well. In December 2025, a federal judge approved an order requiring Disney to pay $10 million to settle FTC allegations that the company allowed personal data to be collected from children viewing child-directed YouTube videos without the parental notice and consent required by the COPPA Rule.
States have also continued to develop their own youth privacy and online safety rules, creating a patchwork that can give minors different rights depending on where they live. The result is a children’s privacy landscape increasingly shaped by federal law, FTC regulation, state legislation, and the practices of individual technology companies.
Original reporting: KEYT (Ventura/Santa Barbara) — read the source article.
