The FTC’s COPPA Conundrum: Ambiguities in the Rule and a Death of Authoritative Guidance Leave the Agency Vulnerable to Legal Challenges

This article was originally published by the ABA’s ANTITRUST magazine in its Summer 2022 issue.

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the Federal Trade Commission’s COPPA-enforcing rule have increasing relevance for all businesses that interact directly with consumers online—including companies that do not regard themselves as marketing directly to children. Both the FTC and state Attorneys General are active in enforcing COPPA, and companies can often be caught off guard by government inquiries scrutinizing their compliance. (more…)

Sean Royall

Dallas, Washington, D.C.

sroyall@sidley.com

Federal and State Authorities Increase Scrutiny and Enforcement of Children’s Privacy; Google, YouTube Agree to Pay a Record $170 Million Fine

This fall, scrutiny has increased on children’s privacy with the FTC and New York Attorney General’s announcement of the largest fine ever for violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”), followed by FTC public workshops on updating the COPPA Rule.  Combined with increased requirements for the sale of teen personal information under the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), and calls for triple fines for children’s privacy violations under a potential CCPA 2.0 referendum for 2020, children’s privacy has come to the forefront of privacy risks.

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Sidley Updates Bloomberg Portfolio on FTC Enforcement of Privacy & Data Security

Sidley Austin has recently updated its “FTC Enforcement of Privacy & Data Security,” which has been published as part of Bloomberg Law’s Privacy & Data Security Practice Portfolio, Portfolio No. 500, available here. (more…)