On January 29, 2020, a United States Representative from Florida, Kathy Castor, introduced a new bill to update and expand the coverage of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”). The new bill is referred to as the “Kids PRIVCY Act”, which is also known as the “Protecting the Information of our Vulnerable Children and Youth Act” and H.R. 5703.
The Kids PRIVCY Act seeks to add a new class of individuals to COPPA, specifically Young Consumers from the ages of 13 through and including 17. The Young Consumers would be protected under COPPA and allowed to control what companies can do with their personal information, as well as who can collect their personal information. The Kids PRIVCY Act also proposes an opt-in consent requirement for all individuals under the age of 18. Some of the other additions the Kids PRIVCY Act proposes are: prohibiting companies from targeting advertisements to children per their personal information and behavior; requiring companies to provide individuals with a right to access, correct, and delete their personal information at any time; ban forced arbitration; and other additions. For more information about the Kids PRIVCY Act proposal online:
Visit the text of the new bill: www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/5703/text?r=38&s=1
U.S. Representative’s Press Release: https://castor.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=403195